The Sun Belt invades the ACC as the Old Dominion Monarchs (1-1) get set to take on the Virginia Cavaliers (1-1) on Saturday afternoon in Charlottesville, VA. The Monarchs come into this matchup after a resounding 39-21 loss at East Carolina. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers also come in off of a loss, 24-3 at Illinois out of the Big Ten. Both teams will look to get back into the win column before they kick off the league portions of their schedules next week. The opening kickoff is set for 2:00pm EST on Saturday.
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After an upset win over Virginia Tech in their opener, 20-17, Old Dominion fell back to earth in week two with a 39-21 loss at East Carolina. The come-from-behind victory over Virginia Tech last weekend may have stayed with the Monarchs too long and the team's struggles getting back on track were evident against a very good ECU team. The Pirates came in with a different kind of motivation, having lost 21-20 to #13 North Carolina State the week before. They proved they were for real with a relatively easy win over ODU. ODU coach Ricky Rahne was not happy that his team seemed to relish their previous week's win for far too long:
“Obviously, we did not prepare the way that we needed to and that's on me,” he said. “We did not play with the same fundamentals we did in our first game. We didn't bounce back. We didn't have the 1-0 mentality this game we needed to have. We had opportunities to score more p oints. We had opportunities to get off the field on third down more than we did. And we just did not execute.”
A 17-7 ECU scoring advantage in the fourth quarter ultimately did in the Monarchs but the score may not have been as close as that based on the total yardage. ODU gained 290 total yards of offense and just 15 on the ground compared with 531 yards of total offense for ECU, including 261 yards on the ground. Quarterback Hayden Wolff finished the game 18-of-29 for 271 yards with three touchdowns and a pick. Wide receiver Ali Jennings III had a big day with 196 yards receiving on 8 catches, including all three touchdowns. The team's best player, running back Blake Watson, rushed for just 45 yards but on just five carries as the Pirates took him out of the game save for a 22-yard run.
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??Charlottesv ille, VA#ReignOn pic.twitter.com/zXYQ4ImmzE— ODU Football (@ODUFootball) September 13, 2022
After two weeks, ODU is averaging just over 20 points per game while giving up over 28 points per game. The total yards disparity is wider with ODU gaining 539 total yards at an average of 4.9 yards per play compared with giving up 864 yards at 5.4 yards per play. Turnovers have hurt the Monarchs with four fumbles in two games and an interception. Defensively, the Monarchs are allowing their opponents an average of 4.6 yards per carry and 196.5 yards per game on the ground. Comparatively, the Monarchs are averaging just 49.5 yards per game on the ground as their two opponents have forced them to go to the air.