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

I have a feeling that it will be three wins Year 1. Hoping for six wins in Year 2 with low-level bowl prospects. If Rahne coaches as advertised, then maybe Year 3/Year 4 will be something special. As the Zen Master once said, "We'll see."

I just have this feeling that we are going to be significantly better than is generally believed. The predictions for this year seem to all be based on the last team to take the field. A lot has changed, with better coaching, better recruiting, better transfers, and with an extra year to adjust to new and different coaching philosophies, develop team culture and chemistry and mature as players. I find it hard to believe that the team taking the field next month has any resemblance to what we saw two years ago, and six (or more) wins should not be thought of as unrealistic.

I think ODU does bowling and the final results will surprise us all (8-4 with a win over WF. Don't clown me too hard.). Everyone is saying ODU will finish 2-10. Like coach Rayne said, the media isn't at their practices.
This team had almost 2 years to get it together. ODU has a huge technical advantage. I've seen it and this team looks really different! People remember, RR was the OC at Penn State. He is now coaching in CUSA - one of the worst G5 conferences.
Marshall could be really scary this year though...

I'm really looking forward to the Liberty game.

The 2020 recruits have been here one year. 2021 recruits 0 years. Many of the players who would have had 2 years to get ready are gone. There is a smaller % of players left who have had 2 years to get ready than you realize.

(08-12-2021 04:50 AM)ODU True Blue Wrote:  The 2020 recruits have been here one year. 2021 recruits 0 years. Many of the players who would have had 2 years to get ready are gone. There is a smaller % of players left who have had 2 years to get ready than you realize.

We have 101 guys on the roster right now, 49 of which got to ODU between 2016 and 2019. We have 3 super seniors from the 2016 class, 5 who signed in 2017, 17 in 2018, and 24 who signed in 2019.

51% of the roster (52 athletes) came here in 2020 (28) or 2021 (24). 11 of those 52 athletes in the 2020 and 2021 classes are transfers.

I'm wondering if Hampton beat us? Our guys have not played since 2019 and HU played in the Spring of 2021 (FCS)? We will have the Wake Forest game as a tune up.

(08-12-2021 10:01 AM)ODUODUODU Wrote:  I'm wondering if Hampton beat us? Our guys have not played since 2019 and HU played in the Spring of 2021 (FCS)? We will have the Wake Forest game as a tune up.

I was feeling ornery so I picked ODU to beat WF week one. crossing my fingers and asking for a miracle.

No doubt ODU is beating Wake Forest on Sept. 3rd.

Most of the starters return from the ACC's #2 offense in 2020. Their likely best RB bolted to Mich. State.
The key to slowing them down will be to exploit shaky pass protection with all OL returning. QB Sam Hartman can be inaccurate if pressured. Unfortunately, the DLine may be our biggest question mark. Hartman is not a running threat at all.

The WF defense has not been good in awhile. However, their DL is anchored by former Monarch star Miles Fox, and overall is excellent. The secondary has been retooled and could be very good. The LBs are probably the weakest position.
So, we likely will need to use our TEs, passes to RBs, mix up some play action and get the running game going if we can.

Of course we really have no idea until we actually play a game.

(08-11-2021 07:24 PM)Retroview1955 Wrote:  I think ODU does bowling and the final results will surprise us all (8-4 with a win over WF. Don't clown me too hard.). Everyone is saying ODU will finish 2-10. Like coach Rayne said, the media isn't at their practices.
This team had almost 2 years to get it together. ODU has a huge technical advantage. I've seen it and this team looks really different! People remember, RR was the OC at Penn State. He is now coaching in CUSA - one of the worst G5 conferences.
Marshall could be really scary this year though...

I'm really looking forward to the Liberty game.

I’m confused. Is the media at practice or not. I see media reports and videos that sure look like media is there. Are you seeing more of it than I’m seeing? Honestly, I’m not sure how much you can infer about how they will perform in games from the few practices they’ve had. We don’t even know who the starting QB is. I picked them to win 3-4 games but that is based primarily on intuition.

(08-05-2021 10:25 AM)ODU AGGIE Wrote:  I just have this feeling that we are going to be significantly better than is generally believed. The predictions for this year seem to all be based on the last team to take the field. A lot has changed, with better coaching, better recruiting, better transfers, and with an extra year to adjust to new and different coaching philosophies, develop team culture and chemistry and mature as players. I find it hard to believe that the team taking the field next month has any resemblance to what we saw two years ago, and six (or more) wins should not be thought of as unrealistic.

ODU AGGIE ,you called it here as well. Congratulations sir.