Old Dominion Monarchs: CFN College Football Preview 2021
College Football News Preview 2021: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Old Dominion football season with what you need to know.
– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Keys To The Season
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Old Dominion Schedule Analysis
– Old Dominion Monarchs Previews
2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2019 Record: 1-11 overall, 0-8 in C-USA
Head Coach: Ricky Rahne, 1st year
2020 CFN Final Ranking: Not Ranked
2020 CFN Preview Ranking: 121
2019 CFN Final Ranking: 125
Old Dominion Monarchs College Football Preview 2021: Offense
– Head coach Ricky Rahne gets to finally show what he can do. The former Penn State offensive coordinator needed to come up with an overhaul after taking over in 2019, and now he has had a year to try putting something together.
The team he inherited was among the worst in the nation offensively – it was the second-worst in total offense, dead last in pass efficiency, sacks allowed, and tackles for loss allowed, so …
– It starts with the offensive front. The Monarchs were really, really young going into last season, and they’re still an inexperienced group. However, the recruiting has been strong enough to go along with what’s in place to potentially be passable around Isaac Weaver at center and 6-6 300-pound Nick Saldiveri at one tackle. Bringing in OT Tyran Hunt from Maryland is a huge help.
The running backs are going to be a question mark until fall camp. Blake Watson was fifth on the 2019 team with 116 yards, and Matt Geiger ran for 39 – welcome to the recruiting classes. Don’t be shocked if a true freshman ends up rising up out of the bunch – Obie Sanni and Jon-Luke Peaker are smallish, quick backs who can work in a variety of ways.
– Quarterback is an early plus. Stone Smartt only threw one touchdown pass and six interceptions two years ago, and 6-5 Hayden Wolff threw three picks and two touchdown passes. UCF transfer DJ Mack is a 6-3, 230-pound veteran who brings the running power to go along with his big game experience.
The receiver situation was supposed to be a relative strength going into last year, but it’s going to be a big of a struggle. Leading yardage receiver Aaron Moore is back – he caught three of the team’s five touchdown passes – and 6-5, Nigel Fitzgerald is a potential matchup problem to go along with his deep speed.
Ali Jennings from West Virginia, Trey Blount from Georgia, and TE Zack Kuntz from Penn State will get instant work.
– What You Need To Know: Defense
– Top Players | Keys To The Season
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Old Dominion Schedule Analysis
NEXT: Old Dominion Monarchs College Football Preview 2021: Defense
Old Dominion Monarchs College Football Preview 2021: Defense
– What was going to be a quick fix positive going into last year is yet another question mark going into fall camp. The defense was supposed to get back almost all of the top tacklers won’t have that luxury, and the front line got gutted by the transfer portal.
– The linebacking corps isn’t totally starting over, but it’s rebuilding. 230-pound Jordan Young finished second on the team with 86 tackles in 2019, but there’s not a whole lot of sure-thing help around him.
The line lost top pass rushers Juwan Ross (East Tennessee State) and Keion White (Georgia Tech) – losing White really, really hurts – but 210-pound Marcus Haynes is back to work on one end after tying White and Ross with 3.5 sacks.
There’s not a lot of size in the interior – losing Jeremy Meiser to Northwestern stings – but Tyre Bibby is a 260-pound veteran, and a few big bodies are in place for the rotation.
– The secondary was going to need to all but start over anyway. Geronda Hall finished third on the team with 69 tackles from his nickel back spot, but the corners are are green. 2021 top recruit Jalen McCain and 2020 top guy LaMareon Johnson might be thrown to the wolves right away.
– What You Need To Know: Offense
– Top Players | Keys To The Season
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Old Dominion Schedule Analysis
NEXT: Old Dominion Monarchs College Football Preview 2021: Top Players
Old Dominion Monarchs College Football Preview 2021: Top Players
Best Old Dominion Monarchs Offensive Player
QB Darriel Mack, Jr.
He’s hardly a sure thing to be the starting quarterback considering the experience ODU already has, but the 6-3, 230-pounder has the size, mobility, and experience to be the exact type of leader and player to lead the program back after a year off.
He’s not the most accurate of passers, but he’s a strong runner and he’s got enough time logged in to not be fazed by much. It was a few years ago, but in 2018 he threw for 348 yards and two touchdowns for UCF in the AAC Championship win over Memphis, and while he struggled in the bowl loss to LSU, the team was in it late.
2. WR Aaron Moore, Soph.
3. C Isaac Weaver, Sr.
4. WR/KR Blake Watson, Soph.
5. OT Nick Saldiveri, Soph.
Related
Old Dominion Football Schedule 2021, Analysis
Best Old Dominion Monarchs Defensive Player
LB Jordan Young, Jr.
The 6-3, 230-pound veteran led the team in tackles in each of the last two seasons ODU played and added 85 stops as a freshman – he’s been a machine over his first three years.
He’ll do just enough to get behind the line – 2.5 career sacks and 13 tackles for loss – but that’s not necessarily his job. Great against the run and solid in pass coverage, he’s got the all-around game to be the star of the rebuilding Monarch D.
2. S Geronda Hall, Soph.
3. S Marrell Blackmon, Sr.
4. CB LaMareon James, Fr.
5. DE Marcus Haynes, Jr.
Top Incoming Old Dominion Monarchs Transfer
OT Tyran Hunt, Soph.
At the very least he gives the Monarchs another option. The Old Dominion offensive line was a total disaster in 2019, but there’s enough depth back for the coaching to play around with the lineup. Getting a 6-7, 312-pound possible left tackle from Maryland is a big deal.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Keys To The Season
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Old Dominion Schedule Analysis
NEXT: Old Dominion Monarchs College Football Preview 2021: Keys To The Season
Old Dominion Monarchs College Football Preview 2021: Keys To The Season
Old Dominion Monarchs Biggest Key: Offense
Block. Nothing is happening unless the Old Dominion offensive front is better than it was two years ago.
To belabor the point from before, the team was among the worst in the nation – or close to it – in way too many offensive categories back in 2019, and it all stemmed from being unable to do anything up front.
It allowed a gajillion plays in the backfield, there wasn’t any running game, there weren’t enough third down conversion, and it all tied together. It’s not like the Monarchs have 2020 Alabama skill talent, but there’s enough in place to be better. They all need the opportunity to work.
Old Dominion Monarchs Biggest Key: Defense
Keep that run defense working. It wasn’t all miserable in the 1-11 2019 season.
The offense might have been non-existent, and the defense wasn’t always a rock, but the front line was outstanding against the run. It allowed 200 yards twice, gave up under four yards per carry, and despite the 22 touchdowns allowed, it really was a positive.
Start there.
For a team that needs to reboot under a new coaching staff, find a good rotation up front, relay on what should be a decent group of linebackers, and build around that.
Old Dominion Monarchs Key Player To A Successful Season
C Issac Weaver. Jr.
To hammer this point home, the offensive line has to be night-and-day better for the 2021 season to be stronger than the 2019 clunker. There’s a whole lot of rebuilding and reworking needing to be done up front, but the 6-6, 296-pound Weaver is a nice veteran up front who earned all-star honors in 2019. He has the experience and skill to be a true anchor and leader for the offense.
Old Dominion Monarchs Key Game To The 2021 Season
at UTEP, Oct. 2
The Monarchs get a few games to warm up before the start of the Conference USA season. They should beat Hampton, they’ll almost certainly lose at Wake Forest and Liberty, and the Buffalo game will be tough.
There are a few winnable conference games – at Middle Tennessee, Charlotte – late in the season, but ODU should be the decided underdog for most of the year. UTEP, though, is gettable.
The Monarchs are 2-1 since 2014 against the Miners, and being 1-0 in conference play would be a big deal under the new coaching staff.
– Old Dominion Schedule Analysis
2019 Old Dominion Monarchs Fun Stats
– 2nd Quarter Scoring: Opponents 101 – ODU 39
– Sacks: Opponents 52 for 283 yards – ODU 17 for 124 yards
– Passing TDs; Opponents 20 – ODU 5
NEXT: Old Dominion Monarchs College Football Preview 2021: What Will Happen, Season Prediction
Old Dominion Monarchs College Football Preview 2021: What Will Happen, Season Prediction
Old Dominion won ten games in 2016 including the Bahamas Bowl.
It’s possible to win quickly at ODU – the program started things back up in 2009 and got into the FBS in 2013 with an 8-4 season – and now it’s up to sort-of-new head coach Ricky Rahne to start his era with a bang.
It’s not going to be easy.
He took over a 1-11 program that needed work, everything got put on hold in 2020, and now he finally gets a chance to show what he can do.
The recruiting has been great over his two season, the Monarchs have been active in the transfer portal, and now there’s an interesting mix of talents to try giving the rest of the Conference USA world problems.
Set The Old Dominion Football Regular Season Win Total At … 2.5
Again, he took over a team that couldn’t move the ball and didn’t have enough of a defense to make up for the problems. However, there’s a shot this might be more of a big tweak than a total overhaul.
It’s not like ODU is playing in the SEC West. There’s only one game against a Power Five program – at Wake Forest – and they miss UAB, UTSA and North Texas in Conference USA play.
There aren’t any sure wins besides Hampton, but there should be just enough talent in place to somehow push through for a few upsets along the way.
The Monarchs are going to be underdogs against just about everyone unless something crazy happens early on with a slew of early wins – and don’t count that out.
Rahne appears to be getting everything together in a hurry, even if it took a year to get here.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Keys To The Season
– Old Dominion Schedule Analysis
