Three years ago today the Old Dominion Monarchs won their first CAA game. It's also the game that we saw Thomas Demarco injured in the first half, and the redshirt burned on a young Taylor Heinicke to take over at halftime.
Heinicke was a smooth 8 for 11 for 119 yds and 2 TDs in that second half.
The thing I remember about that game is TH coming in cold after De Marco went down and immediately throwing a bomb that was caught by the receiver in stride.
I'll never forget that game or seeing Taylor give his father a giant hug afterwards on the sideline. It was obvious when I saw that, that they had a very special relationship. I'm so glad he got to see Taylor play so well. It stinks for Demarco, but it was worth burning his redshirt for that reason alone in retrospect. Sometimes things just work out like they should.
Keep the redshirt and we have Heinicke for another year in our first official non transitional CUSA/bowl eligible season. No one is ready to see TH go. Does anyone have a doubt that on Nov. 22, ODU will retire the number 14?
In that short clip from the UMass game, you can see how drastically the level of competition has risen for us. The teams we are playing now are so much better, it's not even close.
(10-02-2014 07:30 AM)ODUCoach Wrote: [ -> ]In that short clip from the UMass game, you can see how drastically the level of competition has risen for us. The teams we are playing now are so much better, it's not even close.
Correct and I think we are about to see the next evolution of FBS team on Saturday. Rice had about 10-15 good players, MTSU had closer to 20 and Marshall will have 50 players that would be an option for any team in the nation. Their depth is just ridiculous, a good barometer for where we need to be in five years.
(10-01-2014 08:15 PM)Sirloin Burger Wrote: [ -> ]Keep the redshirt and we have Heinicke for another year in our first official non transitional CUSA/bowl eligible season. No one is ready to see TH go. Does anyone have a doubt that on Nov. 22, ODU will retire the number 14?
I doubt it a lot actually. I think they will do something special for him, no question, but I don't think they will retire the number 14 simply because they can't afford to. The roster currently has 104 guys listed on it. There are only 3 vacant numbers and there are 7 numbers that currently assigned to 2 players.
The point is that with a large roster and a limited amount of numbers to assign, I don't think ODU can afford to permanently shelf 14. I could be wrong though. I obviously wouldn't be upset if I were.
I remember that game far better than almost any other one, not sure why but I think it's when I really cemented by fandom. Just a great game to be at and I remember thinking, who's this midge they put at QB and he threw one pass and it changed to "where did they get this kid from?"
I remember that game well -- because I was not there. We had to go to Seattle that weekend for a wedding. It was an outdoor wedding with the reception under a large tent. I kept getting text message updates from my buddy that sits with us. When he texted that DeMarco was not starting the second half, I was sure we were doomed and went back to the bar for another gin and tonic. Little did I know how happy I was going to be before the game was over. There were about 12 of us in a minibus for the one-hour ride back to the hotel and the booze kept flowing, and I remember at some point we all joined in for the world's worse rendition of "Jeremiah Was A Bullfrog" -- but I digress. Yep, it was a great game for ODU and a fun night to boot.
(10-01-2014 11:33 PM)Big Bluezilla Wrote: [ -> ]Taylor doesn't burn that redshirt, we may not be FBS right now.
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Nope. Had VCU not jumped ship we would not be in the FBS.
That was the big cayalyst for the break-up of the CAA. I'm not sure any of it would have happened without VCU's Final Four run. I do think the intention was for ODU football to go FBS, but only eventually. Without everything falling into place just-so, and without the willingness of the ODU Admin. and fans the Monarchs would quite possibly be in the same boat as the Barnies.
(10-03-2014 06:40 AM)GO_MONARKS Wrote: [ -> ]Was the C-USA invite the key? Would we have left the CAA before VCU?
We may have left the CAA first, but the fact that VCU and GMU were already on their way out certainly helped to strenghten the argument for moving. IMO there would have been a lot more blowback had ODU made their move unilaterraly. I'm not sure ODU would have sought the CUSA invite if those two had not made their moves.
(10-03-2014 06:40 AM)GO_MONARKS Wrote: [ -> ]Was the C-USA invite the key? Would we have left the CAA before VCU?
We may have left the CAA first, but the fact that VCU and GMU were already on their way out certainly helped to strenghten the argument for moving. IMO there would have been a lot more blowback had ODU made their move unilaterraly. I'm not sure ODU would have sought the CUSA invite if those two had not made their moves.
Agree. It would have been tough to leave the CAA at that time because of the quality of the basketball programs.