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

Well here we go. Prior to the WKU-Charlotte game I was quite confidant that we would win this.
After the Topper performance vs Charlotte, and our seeming inability to move the ball I am not as confident now.

It will be strength vs strength.

On offense - spread
WKU QB Mike White is historically a prolific and dangerous passer. He seemed to find his 2017 mojo vs Charlotte with the two senior receivers Towner and Yeider. (previously the go to guys this season were Xavier Lane and Lucky Jackson). Changes were made after the anemic offensive performance vs UTEP
No less than 15 players caught passes on Saturday.

The WKU rushing attack is mostly designed to support the pass and Soph RB Quinton Baker is a respectable talent along with RBs Ferby and Moses.
We shouldn't just assume that WKU cannot run...especially against our D

Our pass defense will definitely be tested, and for this game, the 4-2-5 should be the D of choice.

The WKU defense is decent.
WKU is stronger vs the run than the pass. giving up less than 1000 yards through six games.
Like ODU, it's defense has kept WKU in games as it's offense sputtered.
If we cannot pass, it is going to be another long day.

Kicker Nuss is 4/7 on field goals.

WKU 31 ODU 17

Keeping the margin under 30 would be progress.

If we lose by less than 14 I'll be surprised.

(10-17-2017 11:04 AM)ODUBB35 Wrote:  Keeping the margin under 30 would be progress.

I'd actually like our chances to keep it close if BL played. Long drives, dink and dunk to eat clock and give the D some rest. I think it would give the team a needed lift.

Does the Fire Bobby Wilder Thread get hotter or cooler if he sends in a QB not named Williams to lose with?

(10-17-2017 11:39 AM)odu09 Wrote:  Does the Fire Bobby Wilder Thread get hotter or cooler if he sends in a QB not named Williams to lose with?

Just win Baby!! Who cares who the QB is. Whoever gives us the best chance to move the ball and put points on the board.

The QB situation was FUBARed from the start with the dumb platooning of QBs

(10-17-2017 11:39 AM)odu09 Wrote:  Does the Fire Bobby Wilder Thread get hotter or cooler if he sends in a QB not named Williams to lose with?

I'd think cooler as Williams is obviously not ready and he knows that he has a learning curve and was supposed to be redshirted which hopefully won't shake his confidence. I guarantee you the team has issues with BW sacrificing their junior and senior years for a 17 year old kid to eventually possibly be good in 2019. This is most likely part of the "toxic" thing someone was referring to in the locker room.

(10-17-2017 12:03 PM)SettleDownFolks Wrote:  

(10-17-2017 11:39 AM)odu09 Wrote:  Does the Fire Bobby Wilder Thread get hotter or cooler if he sends in a QB not named Williams to lose with?

I'd think cooler as Williams is obviously not ready and he knows that he has a learning curve and was supposed to be redshirted which hopefully won't shake his confidence. I guarantee you the team has issues with BW sacrificing their junior and senior years for a 17 year old kid to eventually possibly be good in 2019. This is most likely part of the "toxic" thing someone was referring to in the locker room.

This would make sense if Larussa or Hoy were the better QB. Hoy obviously is not. I could see a case for BL but hard to have faith when he stands in the pocket and gets sacked or throws a pick all the time.

(10-17-2017 12:02 PM)84Monarch Wrote:  

(10-17-2017 11:39 AM)odu09 Wrote:  Does the Fire Bobby Wilder Thread get hotter or cooler if he sends in a QB not named Williams to lose with?

Just win Baby!! Who cares who the QB is. Whoever gives us the best chance to move the ball and put points on the board.

The QB situation was FUBARed from the start with the dumb platooning of QBs

I think that was dumb too.

I also think that we can safely say now that our offensive issues are way beyond a single player fix, quarterback or otherwise.
We have two good and great RBs. that's it

We cannot get enough of a push by our OL to be a run only team. Marshall showed that, as after two series of moving well, they brought the safeties up and slowed/stopped the run and forcing us to pass. Our OL pass blocking is not great, especially as our tackles seem to be slow. Our receivers seem to not be able to get separation, and don't yet go up and fight for the ball. Additionally they drop a lot.
Marshall further exploited Williams by blitzing to what is IMHO, our weaker left side forcing a lefty to roll right. It is harder to throw against the grain while running.

Finally, SW will likely get worse before he gets better. Vs UNC and even VT, he was reacting. At 17, as he gets more playing time, he will start to think through his progressions thus hesitating and 2nd guessing himself.; causing his accuracy to falter and his judgement (throwing into coverage wrong read etc) as well.

Our coaches seemed to make the right moves at first. Having a very capable David Washington ready to take over for TH. Then getting multi star Shuler Bentley to come in behind DW, and then Drayton Arnold behind SB and Steve Williams behind him; with a walk on and a JUCO as insurance.

Then the train ran off the tracks.
We moved DW to WR and threw Bentley to the wolves too early. We ignored Arnold for who knows why, and threw Steve Williams to the wolves far too early.

(10-17-2017 12:44 PM)ODUalum78 Wrote:  

(10-17-2017 12:02 PM)84Monarch Wrote:  

(10-17-2017 11:39 AM)odu09 Wrote:  Does the Fire Bobby Wilder Thread get hotter or cooler if he sends in a QB not named Williams to lose with?

Just win Baby!! Who cares who the QB is. Whoever gives us the best chance to move the ball and put points on the board.

The QB situation was FUBARed from the start with the dumb platooning of QBs

I think that was dumb too.

I also think that we can safely say now that our offensive issues are way beyond a single player fix, quarterback or otherwise.
We have two good and great RBs. that's it

We cannot get enough of a push by our OL to be a run only team. Marshall showed that, as after two series of moving well, they brought the safeties up and slowed/stopped the run and forcing us to pass. Our OL pass blocking is not great, especially as our tackles seem to be slow. Our receivers seem to not be able to get separation, and don't yet go up and fight for the ball. Additionally they drop a lot.
Marshall further exploited Williams by blitzing to what is IMHO, our weaker left side forcing a lefty to roll right. It is harder to throw against the grain while running.

Finally, SW will likely get worse before he gets better. Vs UNC and even VT, he was reacting. At 17, as he gets more playing time, he will start to think through his progressions thus hesitating and 2nd guessing himself.; causing his accuracy to falter and his judgement (throwing into coverage) as well.

Our coaches seemed to make the right moves at first. Having a very capable David Washington ready to take over for TH. Then getting multi star Shuler Bentley to come in behind DW, and then Drayton Arnold behind SB and Steve Williams behind him; with a walk on and a JUCO as insurance.

Then the train ran off the tracks.
We moved DW to WR and threw Bentley to the wolves far too early. We ignored Arnold for who knows why, and threw Steve Williams to the wolves far too early.

agreed. For my money we needed to go with one QB, probably Larussa since he seemed to have a better grasp of the offense. There is no way either Larussa or Hoy felt good in the game knowing they may not be in the next series. Very bad miscalculation by the coaching staff.

I also don't get why Arnold has been marginalized. He brings the legs Hoy has, a stronger arm than Larussa. He may not understand the offense as well but he seemed pretty close in the spring.

The QB situation is done. We will live or die with SW this year. Im ok with that I guess. Considering we have been losing so badly I wish we had kept the redshirt on SW and saved him though. We could have lost like we are with Hoy and LaRussa. Think of this, SW has lost every game he has played in as a Monarch. Thats sad. Cant be good for confidence either.

(10-17-2017 03:43 PM)monarx Wrote:  The QB situation is done. We will live or die with SW this year. Im ok with that I guess. Considering we have been losing so badly I wish we had kept the redshirt on SW and saved him though. We could have lost like we are with Hoy and LaRussa. Think of this, SW has lost every game he has played in as a Monarch. Thats sad. Cant be good for confidence either.

At some point we will start to see SW progress. Its tough now and I am not a happy ODU supporter at the moment but he will start to get better. And I really think that happens with the receivers start catching the ball.

The experience this year could also help for next year when we should have a more talented team overall.

(10-17-2017 04:18 PM)Gilesfan Wrote:  The experience this year could also help for next year when we should have a more talented team overall.

Unrelated to the topic but have you ever tried to run a search on this board for the phrase "next year"

I think it might be the most widely used phrase on this forum, seriously. i assume that this phrase is not unique to just this sports messageboard

I'm pumped up for this Friday night game!! I think that the Monarchs are going to come out swinging in front of their home crowd. A bit of a character check for the team. Will see what they are made out of. Although I would like a win, I will be satisfied to see them come out and punch the Hillpoopers in the mouth, play with some emotion, give the 12th Monarchs something to cheer about, and cry havoc and let slip the dogs of football. I watched Hillpooper highlights and truthfully don't see any juggernaut there. We are not spectacular, but given the Foreman field mojo and a couple of good bounces should be able to hang with the poopers. At some point have to break out of this funky 'brain cloud' that the team seems to be in -- hope it is Friday night!

(10-17-2017 04:10 PM)cmett003 Wrote:  

(10-17-2017 03:43 PM)monarx Wrote:  The QB situation is done. We will live or die with SW this year. Im ok with that I guess. Considering we have been losing so badly I wish we had kept the redshirt on SW and saved him though. We could have lost like we are with Hoy and LaRussa. Think of this, SW has lost every game he has played in as a Monarch. Thats sad. Cant be good for confidence either.

At some point we will start to see SW progress. Its tough now and I am not a happy ODU supporter at the moment but he will start to get better. And I really think that happens with the receivers start catching the ball.

Agreed. It's gonna happen, but it may not be our year

Live or Die with SW?

This shouldn't be about the progression of 1 player, it shoud be about the team.

This is not a rebuilding season. This team is still capable of going 8-4.

The key is giving the team a chance to win. If Williams is ineffective, Wilder needs to give his team that chance and not make this all about the development of 1 player at the expense of a possible win.

Wilder needs to realize there are some on his team that have doubts about WIlliams at this point but are keeping it to themselves.

I think all of us are to blame for overhyping the kid.

Some were asking how we were able to steal a P5 caliber quarterback away from the P5. First you have to ask yourself how many P5 offers Williams got and the answer is zero. That should put things in perspective.

I'm counting on SW to deliver on Friday night but if he doesn't, Coach Wilder should find another way to win. He owes it to the fans in Foreman Field and across Monarch Nation.

ODU 31
The Darlings Of CUSA 21

What did Hoy or Larussa show that they are the better option for this year or next?

This is about what Williams hasn't done which is currently being discussed on this forum.

Gilesfan ..... Bentley fanboy to Bentley apologist, Larussa fanboy to Larussa apologist, after Hoy's Umass winning performance, leaning toward Hoy fanboyship, after BL and JH's UNC performance became Williams fanboy, and now Williams apologist.