Ragin' Dave's ODU Breakdown
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ODU is coming off a 3-9 very disappointing season after being bowl eligible the season before. The season got off to a great start with an upset win over Va Tech in Norfolk, Va. But after that it was rough sledding with only wins vs Arkansas State and a shocking win vs Coastal Carolina. The Monarchs finished the season with 5 straight losses. Ironic because the season previous, they finished with 5 straight wins to get bowl eligible. They are led by Head Coach Ricky Rahne in his 3rd season, who is 9-17 overall at ODU. Rahne has a pretty good background at P5 schools with previous stops being Kansas State, Vanderbilt, and Penn State. He was at Penn State for 5 years including OC and QB coach back in 18-19 season. His OC is Kevin Decker who comes over from Fordham and is in his first season as well as former ODU standout LB Blake Sieler as DC.
There were high expectations for ODU coming off their Myrtle Beach appearance in 2021, but unfortunately the move to the SBC did not go well for them, most of the problems were on the offensive side of the ball including 5 games where they scored less than 17 points, including a 37-3 loss to JMU, a 12-0 loss to Marshall and a 27-14 loss to App State. The defense was what kept them in games including a win vs VT 20-17 a loss to UVA 14-16 and a 20-27 loss to USA amongst others.
That 2022 team only scored an average of 19.5 points per game, but only gave up 26.58 points per game. They struggled mightily to move the ball on the ground, where they only averaged 92.5 yards per game and a 3.6-yard average. They were better through the air, averaging 247.17 yards per game with 19 TD’s and 7 INT’s. The problem was they gave up tons of yards on defense, including almost 200 yards per game on the ground and 244 yards per game through the air. When the defense was not good, it was putrid and that hurt them or course a inconsistent defense and a bad offense is not a good combination for success. They were outgained by over 100 yards per game last season. They also lost the Time of Possession battle by over 10 minutes a game and finished just +1 in the turnover battle even with forcing 12 INT’s, unfortunately they fumbled the ball 18 times losing 11 of them.
QB—Big change at QB, last year Hayden Wolf was the starter and put-up decent numbers including 18 TD’s and only 6 INT’s. It is a complete overhaul at QB for ODU, all three of their 3 deep are gone this year. The starter has been named and it is Fordham transfer Grant Wilson (6’3 208). Wilson was not the starter at Fordham, in 2 full seasons he only threw 11 passes while there. So, he is a complete unknown, although because he came over with the OC from Fordham, he should be familiar with the system that they will run. Last week vs VT he was 13-25 for only 94 yards with 2 TD’s and 1 INT in a loss, but he did lead the team with 81 yards on 19 carries for 4.3-yard average. The rest of the QB’s behind him don’t have much experience either. RS Sophomore Jack Shields will probably be next man up if needed.
RB—This team was not good on the ground last year, but they lose their leading RB who finished with almost 1000 yards in Blake Watson who transferred out, leaving the only RB with any experience left on the roster in Keshawn Wickes (6’1 193). Wickes rushed for 125 yards and 1 TD last year but had a nice game vs VT gaining 73 yards on 14 carries. He also had a TD reception in the game for 10 yards. Against VT RB’s not named Keshawn Wickes only had a total of 9 carries combined between 4 players, so Wicks will get most of the time in the backfield. Obie Sanni (5’5 194) will probably be the next guy up. Sanni only had 4 carries for 15 yards vs VT, but also had 2 catches for 18 yards. Kadarius Calloway (6’0 210) was a big time JUCO recruit (#5 JUCO in the nation) but only had 2 carries for 13 yards vs VT and 1 catch for 8 yards in that game.
WR/TE—I sound like a broken record, but this team also loses their #1 returning receiver from last year Ali Jennings who had 959 yards receiving on 54 receptions as well as 9 TD’s. They also lose their #3 receiver in RB Blake Watson who had 34 receptions. Javon Harvey (5’11 180) is their leading returning guy who had 30 receptions and 4 TD’s, but only had 1 catch for 0 yards in the VT game. In fact, no one had more than 3 catches in that game, with 3 receivers catching 2 passes. Isiah Paige (5’8 160) and Jordan Bly (5’10 166) will be the guys to look at for ODU. Cincinnati transfer Marquez Bell (6’1 178) and South Carolina transfer Dominic Dutton (5’10 162) being the others that could get some looks. None of these receivers are very big in my opinion, which should give the Cajun DB’s an advantage, especially if we get some depth back with Glenn Brown, the transfer from Southern. At TE they will start Isiah Spencer (6’5 230), not an imposing TE, but very athletic who has had only 6 starts in the last 2 seasons, but he is experienced as he Is a RS Senior for the Monarchs.
OL—On the OL, they return 2 of their 5 starters from last year. Back for them is RG Leroy Thomas (6’3 290) who played quite a bit of Center last year and Xavier Black (6’4 290) who will be their Center this year. The big loss is Nick Saldiveri, who was drafted by the Saints and made the NFL roster who was their RT last year. Santana Saunders (6’5 296) will move to LT, he played a little RT last year. RS Sophomore Stephon Dubose-Bourne (6’4 310) will move to LG, he is young but expected to be a good one and Chris Adams (6’6 280) will play the RT position. They have a nice mix of experience and youth. My biggest concern with them is size, they will only be starting one player on the OL over 300 lbs. I think an advantage the Cajuns might have is our big athletic DL.
DL—ODU is listed as a standard 4-3 defense, with 2 DE’s and 2 DT’s. But they did play a 3-safety look vs VT last weekend, meaning they played with only 3 down lineman, 3 LB’s and 5 DB’s. If they go with this same look vs the Cajuns, then up front you will see Amorie Morrison (6’4 244) coupled with a couple of big guys next to him Denzel Lowery (6’2 280) and Jalen Satchell (6-1 300). Satchell is a transfer from Temple. A couple of other guys to look for are two transfers Cole Daniels, South Alabama, and Jahill Taylor from UNC and another one in Devin Brandt-Epps. Epps and Lowery are the only two returners with experience in this group, but as you can see several transfers have been brought in. They are big and stout up front, specifically if they switch back to the 4-3. I am not sure if they ran the 3-3-5 vs VT because of their offense or if that is what they plan on doing all season.
LB—At LB, EJ Green (6’1 224) and Jason Henderson (6’1 230) return for them. Both are solid players. They will get the start with Wayne Matthews (6’2 221). Henderson had 11 tackles on Saturday including half a sack. Wayne Matthews had 8 tackles and Green had 9. They were 3rd, 4th, and 5th on the team in tackles for the game. Henderson led the team last year in tackles with an astounding 186 and he missed the App State game, or he might have broken the college record. Green in part time duty had 20 tackles. Two of their leading tacklers from this group from last year are gone, so replacing them is going to be tough, but we need to keep an eye on Henderson, he is the man in the middle.
DB/S—ODU employed 5 DB’s including 3 safeties in the starting lineup vs VT. Terry Jones (6’1 187), Shawn Asbury (5’9 195), and Tahj Ra-El (6’2 192). Jones returns as the leading tackler in the Safety group from last year. He is a solid player and Asbury transfers in from Boston College where he got 3 starts. At the corner positions we will see ECU transfer Nolan Johnson (6’2 200) and James Lamereon (5’10 187). Lamereon is a returner that played in all 12 games last year. In all on defense they only have 2 true returning starters, but the guys they have, either played a good deal without starting last year or come in as transfers.
Special Teams—They return their punter from last year and he is a pretty good one, he is preseason Phil Steele 1st Team All-conference. Ethan Duane (6’1 215). Duane averaged 43+ yards per punt last year and kept it up with 4 punts for a 42-yard average vs VT. Duane had double digit punts last year that were over 50 yards. Ethan Sanchez (5’9 179) also returns as the punter. Sanchez did a nice job last year hitting 10-13 last year and hitting 2-3 over 40 yards. He did not attempt a kick over 50. Ethan Duane takes over as the kickoff guy, he had 3 vs VT for only a 59-yard average and kicked one out of bounds. There should be an opportunity to return kickoffs. Both of their return specialists are back this year. Isiah Page will return punts, he did not have a chance to return any last week, but last year he had 11 returns for 83 yards for a 7.55-yard average with a long of 23. On kickoffs, it will be LaMareon James. James had a 21.25-yard average last year with a long of 38. They are not great back there, but solid.
This is a team that will give you multiple looks on offense and mix it up on defense specifically in the defensive backfield. They are going to try to be a different team from last year, they are athletic up front on the offensive line and stout in the middle on the D-Line. I still think the Cajuns come away with the victory. I think our size and strength of front on the D-Line could be the difference against them as well as their inexperience at some of the skill positions.
Prediction
Cajuns 31
Monarchs 20
I think the Monarchs will continue to improve this season, but it seems to me that it will take time for them to get to where they want to be. By later in the season this could be a very competitive team, but I think early they will have growing pains.
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Re: Ragin' Dave's ODU Breakdown
Originally Posted by Jacob81
