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

QB and WR play will likely be significantly improved. OL really came along and pretty much everybody is back there. Losing Ray will certainly hurt a lot, but maybe opening the game up a bit will actually help the running game.

Somebody is going to have to step up for Rotimi on the D, but otherwise I think we are in decent shape there and hopefully will be better and bigger with another year experience. On the offense, I'm hopeful that Duhart and Cox will be a pretty potent combo allowing us to be efficient in the air and on the ground. Assuming they come back strong and Williams improves (which I think he will), there is reason for optimism there. We lost two of our very best players with Ray and Bunmi graduating, but we return a lot of nice players too. I think ODU will be better than last year, but unfortunately, I think many other CUSA teams will also be better than last year, causing us to finish about the same in the standings in spite of the improvement.

I think we see Steven Williams coming in much stronger this year and about 20 lbs. heavier and running the ball much more with his new big body.

Runmi was solid, bur plenty of talent there with Ward and Appouh.

(01-30-2018 11:55 AM)Gilesfan Wrote:  Runmi was solid, bur plenty of talent there with Ward and Appouh.

Exactly... Ward would have started on a lot of CUSA teams last year.

(01-30-2018 08:11 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  I only see 2-3 wins unless it all clicks with Williams and he morphs into Michael Vick. That schedule is brutal. I need to see big improvements at QB before I get onboard with 6 wins.

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UNCC, Liberty, VMI, North Texas, Rice, ECU is not brutal. The CUSA schedule, as a whole is very tough, though.

(01-29-2018 09:31 PM)Old Dominion Wrote:  Wins
Liberty, Charlotte, ECU, FIU, VMI, Rice, North Texas

Losses
VT, FAU, MT, WKU,Marshall

I think Rice and North Texas are better than a lot of people are giving credit for. Didn't North Texas just win the west?

(01-30-2018 12:34 PM)Monarchblue Wrote:  

(01-30-2018 08:11 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  I only see 2-3 wins unless it all clicks with Williams and he morphs into Michael Vick. That schedule is brutal. I need to see big improvements at QB before I get onboard with 6 wins.

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UNCC, Liberty, VMI, North Texas, Rice, ECU is not brutal. The CUSA schedule, as a whole is very tough, though.

I still say we go 3-3 in those games, at least until I see evidence that we will have a QB that will take over games. If someone held a gun to my head now, I'd say we lose to ECU, split Rice/N Texas, and lose to Liberty. That prediction is subject to change, however, as the season approaches, depending on how Williams looks.

(01-30-2018 01:38 PM)EverRespect Wrote:  

(01-30-2018 12:34 PM)Monarchblue Wrote:  

(01-30-2018 08:11 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  I only see 2-3 wins unless it all clicks with Williams and he morphs into Michael Vick. That schedule is brutal. I need to see big improvements at QB before I get onboard with 6 wins.

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UNCC, Liberty, VMI, North Texas, Rice, ECU is not brutal. The CUSA schedule, as a whole is very tough, though.

I still say we go 3-3 in those games, at least until I see evidence that we will have a QB that will take over games. If someone held a gun to my head now, I'd say we lose to ECU, split Rice/N Texas, and lose to Liberty. That prediction is subject to change, however, as the season approaches, depending on how Williams looks.

Do you think we will be worse than last year? If so, there is an argument to be made for that, but I think we would have beaten all those teams last year, and I expect us to be some degree of better this year.

Liberty will put up a lot of points. I have my doubts we will outscore them with our offense. UNT won the West last year. I know ECU was awful last year, but I am assuming they are reloading.

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I'd feel better about the Liberty and ECU games if they weren't on the road. We should compete and have a chance to win both, but I'd take a split.

(01-30-2018 02:05 PM)EverRespect Wrote:  Liberty will put up a lot of points. I have my doubts we will outscore them with our offense. UNT won the West last year. I know ECU was awful last year, but I am assuming they are reloading.

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I think:

Liberty would be a terrible loss. They are not good at all.

You are probably right and I am probably wrong about N Tex

ECU was not just a little down last year. They were one of the worst teams in the nation. I would be very surprised if they are much better this year.

Really not understanding the love for Liberty. Why will they put up a lot of points? Why will they shut us down when they couldn't shut down anemic FCS schools?

ODU played North Texas on their turf pretty tough last season. Why are so many people considering it a likely loss this year?

The ECU starting QB withdrew from school to attend to family matters at home.

I think that leaves them with a Sophomore and two Freshmen to fill the spot.

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Way too early for me to make a prediction, but I do think predicting only three wins is more than a little too pessimistic. We have something like eight starters returning on both offense and defense. Steven Williams improved consistently from game to game last year, and I expect him to be one of the top 2 or 3 QBs in the conference this year. Running back should be strong with Cox, Sinclair, Simmons, and (hopefully) Perkins able to carry the load. The O-line will be strong. We have a lot of talent returning in the receiving corps, and that will get even better when Mayo signs. Lastly, BW has never won less than five games, and I don't see that happening this year. To me, the only question is whether we are closer to being a five-win team or being an eight-win team -- and I will wait until after spring training to make that call, but -- a three-win season just ain't gonna happen!

Cheers, everyone!

(01-30-2018 02:10 PM)Gilesfan Wrote:  Really not understanding the love for Liberty. Why will they put up a lot of points? Why will they shut us down when they couldn't shut down anemic FCS schools?

Our offense w/o TH or DW has been pretty close to anemic FCS schools and we won't have Ray Lawry next year either.

(01-31-2018 09:13 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  

(01-30-2018 02:10 PM)Gilesfan Wrote:  Really not understanding the love for Liberty. Why will they put up a lot of points? Why will they shut us down when they couldn't shut down anemic FCS schools?

Our offense w/o TH or DW has been pretty close to anemic FCS schools and we won't have Ray Lawry next year either.

You realize this isn't even close to accurate? Our worst years (both with freshman QBs) were 21 and 24 points per game. FCS schools aren't averaging 24 points per game vs. FBS schools over the course of a full season. (maybe a handful would; certainly not liberty)

(01-31-2018 09:13 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  

(01-30-2018 02:10 PM)Gilesfan Wrote:  Really not understanding the love for Liberty. Why will they put up a lot of points? Why will they shut us down when they couldn't shut down anemic FCS schools?

Our offense w/o TH or DW has been pretty close to anemic FCS schools and we won't have Ray Lawry next year either.

Every qb except those two has been a first year starter. Give SW some time. I think he improved a ton last year, and by the end of the season he was solid, and we were pretty decent as a whole. The first half of last season may be clouding your memory of the second half.

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(01-31-2018 12:42 PM)Monarchblue Wrote:  

(01-31-2018 09:13 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  

(01-30-2018 02:10 PM)Gilesfan Wrote:  Really not understanding the love for Liberty. Why will they put up a lot of points? Why will they shut us down when they couldn't shut down anemic FCS schools?

Our offense w/o TH or DW has been pretty close to anemic FCS schools and we won't have Ray Lawry next year either.

Every qb except those two has been a first year starter. Give SW some time. I think he improved a ton last year, and by the end of the season he was solid, and we were pretty decent as a whole. The first half of last season may be clouding your memory of the second half.

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Could be. I'm willing to revise my prediction based on how the offense looks in the spring/summer months.