podcast
Monarchs All right, Monarch Nation, we are back. We'd like to welcome back Gary to the show. After his short stint away from us. Welcome back, Gary. How you doing?
I am great, man. It was good to get away for a little bit impossible to watch college football in England as I found out, but definitely good to be back.
Happy to have you back. Aaron welcome to the show. How you doing down there in Florida?
I'm great, man. I think that I'm the only guy putting sunscreen on down here to protect my pasty white skin, but things are nice. It's about 70 degrees out, and I have no complaints.
All right, Gary. So, since you've been out a couple weeks we'd love to get your feedback on the last two games And I'd love to have you answer if you shifted your projections at all. From the preseason. Cause we talked about that at length with Aaron and the specialist goats, John and Jared.
Yeah, they did an awesome job on the podcast. I listened to both episodes coming back in and it was really good to hear those guys get their perspective having played for Old Dominion. I've rewatched both games. I miss Marshall and Southern Miss twice now. I think the Southern Miss game actually frustrates me more even though we won just because we missed so many opportunities on the offensive side of the ball.
Marshall game was, that, that was just a kind of, kind of weird like to see us up 17 and then just kind of watch that thing melt away. I thought Marshall did a pretty good job of kind of taking the middle of the field that we were giving them defensively and make Camp Fancher look really good. I mean, Camp Fancher's final stat line was actually really good for someone who hasn't really put up those types of numbers before he kind of.
Took what the defense gave them and then when they got in the red zone, they were able to kind of use Ali a little bit, and run some pretty creative plays down there to get into the end zone Obviously some special teams blunders and in both of the games.
But I think that the southern miss one frustrated me a little bit because we should have taken a big step forward in that game Considering how well we did offensively against marshall and to see his kind of step back was a little bit alarming but grant wilson comes in gets the reps there, hits some big passes, and then the defense makes a great play to kind of seal the game for us.
I think what I, what left me with a good taste in my mouth after the Southern Miss win, other than the win, was to be able to finish the game with the ball on offense. To make the play in a really tough situation, to get that first down and kneel it out, that's something we haven't been able to do a lot over the last three years, so I was really happy to see that and we found a way to win. That's what was most important and now we're three and three coming back.
As far as projections, I'm still thinking my five and seven is there. There's clearly a pathway to six and six and I think it starts this Saturday with App State. If we beat App State, I may adjust that to six and six. But I'm still holding strong on my five and seven prediction until I see see otherwise after Saturday.
All right. So as you mentioned, app state, they come to town for a seven o'clock kickoff on Saturday on NFL network. I'm hearing that we're close to a general admission sellout. So if you haven't bought tickets buy them and use them. Because obviously we've sold quite a few tickets this year that have gone unused and I'd like to see that trend end This is gonna be a huge matchup for us. App State comes in three and three.
We're three and three The winners bowl hopes remain strong the losers take quite a big hit Vegas opened this line at six In apps favor, it is, it went crazy that day one. I don't know if you saw that it flipped to old dominion briefly to all dominion minus six, but it's back to app state minus six and a half and has not moved. Total is at 53 and a half. I'd like to hear what your initial thoughts on this. We're going to go to you, Aaron. What do you think?
Well, I would actually want to ask both you guys a question on this. So... When a line opens like that, it flips so dramatically, quickly, and then flips back. Is that because there's not a lot of action on it at first and somebody comes in on Old Dominion and then you get more people to come in and kind of bring it back to alignment of where it looks like it's gonna be? Or, why does something like that happen?
So that definitely can happen? where the books just have the number wrong and a lot of money can go to the other side and they want to try to balance it out. Maybe they made a mistake. I think what actually happened in this case, 'cause if you look at the Tracker on Action Network, that's telling you the best line that's available for the side you want to be on. I, I've seen this a lot with books and if you're quick to pick it up, you can make a lot of money. Sometimes the algorithm.
And the text system screws up and will flip the who's favorite and who's an underdog because just judging by how quickly it was fixed Someone probably noticed it on one of those aggregate sites and started hammering them so that you probably have someone holding Odu minus six and a half and southern miss plus six and App state plus six and a half to get on both sides of it. So the two ways typically you don't see a 12 for 13 point line swing in a matter of 15 minutes.
So I think that may have been a someone take advantage of a dumb book like that rivers or somebody like that.
All right. So Aaron.
All right. You know, we've been in a bunch of close games this year. Talking to the guys from App I, And just seeing their commentary online, I think a lot of them think that's going to be a close game as well. I hope it's not. I hope we're able to put both sides of the ball together. I mean, the defense has been playing tremendously. But I think this is a close game. I think it comes down to the fourth quarter. Hopefully we come out on the, you know, the right end of it.
I think it's going to be relatively high scoring. Because I know AP has had propensity to give up big plays. We've been great against the run. But AP has been pretty explosive in areas, and their quarterback clearly has the ability to take advantage of stuff. And, you know, we're gonna make, we're gonna make them throw the ball. I think we win by no more than a field goal.
All right, so my early lean is actually towards an under Making this a lower scoring game App can give up the big pass play They're not amazing against the run, but they're pretty good up the middle. So you need to get on the outside against them if we can continue doing what we did against Southern Miss and Marshall where our running backs are kicking it out, starting it and going up the gut, but then kicking it out, I think we'll have some success there.
And if we can do that we can then throw it over the door, that deep ball that grant loves to throw and beat him over the top. But they have a lot of great athletes that app, they've been good for a long time for good reason because they continue to recruit very well. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this, Gary, what are your kind of the things you're looking for in this one?
I think this game is going to be more like a soccer game, a whole lot of nothing in the middle of the field, and then a quick run out and a touchdown, like it's going to be just centered around big plays. Like we could probably sum this up into nine to 10 big plays that happen. You know, one thing that we have consistently done well on offense at ODU is. Hit the big play.
We're actually tied for second in the country with 14 plays over 40 yards this season now the intermediate stuff that has not been our strong suit We're So, yet to develop that and I'm hoping maybe we do Coming out of the bye week and be able to eat some time of possession on the offensive side But app got exposed a little bit against Coastal Carolina in their secondary and they gave up some big plays and I think That's an area that we are going to look to exploit.
I mean, the app's basically coming off of a bi week too. It's going to be kind of a chess match, right? Where each team's going to have a game plan that's probably going to beat the other team's defense at first. And you're going to have adjustments and it's kind of going to go back and forth. But I think if we.
Can hit big plays like we have a really good chance to win this game because I think our defense will be able To adjust they'll be able to make app one dimensional where they have to throw the ball And one thing I saw in that coastal carolina game was When Aguilar was on the run, he was not an accurate passer. He does a good job of not getting sacked and not going down, but getting flushed from the pocket. He was very inaccurate made some mistakes when he was pushed out of the pocket.
And I think that's going to be our goal. Like, we can't sit back and eight in an umbrella coverage. We need to put pressure on him on every passing down. But we have to stop the run first, put, make them one dimensional. Then put pressure on Aguilar to to make him very inaccurate. Then, you know, hopefully some of those boys in the secondary will get to have some fun running the other way.
So, question there. I mean, if we're successful in being able to bottle up the run there Where's our pressure going to come from? I mean, we've had some injuries to the key players who are kind of our pressure guys. So, if we're going to be successful, Mike and Gary, where do you think that's going to come from this Saturday?
I think it's got to start with the defensive line and come right up the middle. I think you got to send Jason Henderson quite a bit into the backfield. I wouldn't mind seeing a little more Terry Jones blitzing action as well coming in from the secondary with some speed. Especially if the defensive line can eat up some of those blockers.
There are plenty of guys I think on that defense that can rush the passer and we kind of have a unique ability other than You know, maybe our two corners to blitz from anywhere. So you got nine different guys that can come at the quarterback on every play. So I would look for some good things we've done all year where, you know, one safety looks like they're blitzing, they back out, Terry Jones comes popping in. You know, I think Sean Asbury could have a big game in this as well.
But big boys up front for the defensive line, if they can make some space, that could be a lot of fun.
So, I was looking at Apps Schedule. Six games. We talked about earlier close games. All of their games except for ECU and Gardner Web have been won possession games. They lose to Coastal by three. They beat ULM on the road by one. They lose a heartbreaker to Wyoming by three, and then they lose another heartbreaker to UNC by six. They know how to keep the games close in in Boone, but they've been on the wrong side of the ledger too often.
And I'm hoping that is something we can take advantage of. We're gonna have the hometown crowd. Hopefully it's packed. Yeah I mentioned it earlier. I'm leaning towards the under, and that's because of the wind. It's supposed to be a pretty gusty day, winds expected up to 20 miles an hour, which we saw how that can impact a game at homecoming. Hopefully we score a little bit better than we did at homecoming, but it is something to consider when you're thinking about how this game could play out.
Yeah, I wouldn't leave it up to a field goal with the wind. You're talking about App State being in a lot of close games. I mean aside from the Virginia Tech game. We've been in one possession games as Well I we've ended up on the right side. A couple times we've ended up on the wrong side a couple times with some blown leads if we are able to get up 14 17 points on app state, I would love to see us just go for the throat Put another one up, put another one up, put another one up.
It kinda, I know this isn't the mindset of the team or the coaching staff of the play calling, but I feel like you just kinda naturally start protecting the lead instead of continuing to add to it. And I feel like that's what we've kinda done. If that deep ball's still there when we're up 14 or 17, chuck it. Like that's how we score touchdowns. We're six games in.
We kind of have to embrace that if we develop the rest great, but go for the throat just ruthless I mean, that's what we need to do I mean that app states destroyed us all three times We played them if you get the chance to put your foot on their throat push down harder
Well, hopefully that'll be the case because we've had multiple games this year where we've gotten out. big. And then, whether we've taken our foot off the gas or not. We've allowed teams to just, you know, come storming back. So, I don't think there's any choice but to change you know, whether it's the play calling or it's just the mentality.
Hopefully that's something over the last, you know, week and a half the team has really been talking about is just you know, continuing to press press, and kind of not sit back on whatever lead they, you know, might be able to get early on.
To be fair, the two of those games that we blew those leads in, we could not throw the ball very well. And this is a team that we should be able to throw the deep ball on. It's, well, we're going to say it a lot of times in this episode. Grant loves to throw that deep ball and he throws a nice one. He looked a little bit more comfortable last week. Throwing it connecting is a whole nother thing. We need our receivers to make those catches. We need them to run efficient routes.
I know this is kind of unrelated, but if you watch that Monday night football game between the Packers and the Raiders, they made a big Comparison between Jacobi Myers and Devante Adams. Jacobi Myers runs routes, Devante runs choice routes, and the Raiders offensive line has struggled this year to pass block and they don't give them a lot of time and those choice routes by Devante, they take time.
So they're throwing to Jacobi Myers a lot more than you would expect when you have a Devante Adams on your team, but it's kind of a factor of how they play. So I'd like our receivers, which are most of them have choice routes. To make this smarter, shorter choice. So we can have those options over the middle, the shorter pass routes to kind of take advantage of how we're being defended all year long.
Because the past couple weeks we've seen they're gonna, they're kinda going man on man, on the outside, and daring us to throw over them. We gotta beat them. You gotta beat them over the top if they're defending you one on one. And we just haven't been doing that enough.
Yeah, and also I think there's a lot of validity in what you said just based on how far we spread the field You know that long pass is even longer when you're on the right hash and you're throwing a 50 yards downfield on the left Side that throw is a lot longer and we've I think we've been burned on that a couple times with slow developing routes When guys are that far away from where the ball is being snapped. But talking about throwing the deep ball I will throw it out there.
The Jack Shields was listed as QB one on the depth chart. I don't think any of us actually believe that's going to be the case. So a little bit of gamesmanship. Hopefully that maybe it takes an hour or two extra of apps time prepping. There's similar quarterbacks. There's not like huge differences like we've had in the past, but still something to think about there. But If Grant is a starter, if Jax is a starter, whoever it is, like, that position is there for the taking.
And I think that is probably the biggest glaring issue that we have on our team right now. Like, we are so close. Like, you look at these games, we're so close to being 5 1. We're having different conversations. It's just those tiny little things. Whether it's in quarterback play and making the right reads receivers running the right route the right depth of route things like that punt coverages Kickoffs little it's little tiny things.
It's not like Years past where we have been deficient in multiple areas. Like I think we actually have the skill position players to go out and win a lot of football games. We're just, it hasn't all quite come together yet, but it is so, so close. So I also want to point out that we have not lost a game with Coach Ronnie after a bye week. Like that game after a bye week we have won every single time.
So it seems like that extra time to prep and hone in some things and do some drills and get some work in and get some guys healthy has always benefited us. I mean, we went to Coastal last year and Coastal was the best team that's ever existed in the Sunbelt last year. And we went down and just kicked the absolute shit out of them. So having a home game after that, I'm hoping cause it literally is. small things we need to fix right now. And we are a very different football team.
You know, talking about the small things, I see three things that we have to do this week to win. If we do the three things, I think that we've got a really good shot to win. Successfully run the ball, which, for the most part, we've been able to do. And when we've done it well, we've done it really well. So we've got to be able to run the ball. The other thing is, get rid of the turnovers. So, Those three interception days those are killers, and we've been better at that not doing that of late.
So we need to make sure no, you know, none of that stuff. The other thing is limiting unnecessary sacks. So, whether it's grant, If the play is not there, you know, either pick up what you can with your feet and get down or throw the ball away. Not trying to do too much and taking sacks that either move you out of field goal position or get you in a second or third and long. If we do those three things, I think we've got a real good shot at winning this game.
I think there's a couple other things we need to also maybe improve on. One is the red zone. We've ran into kind of quicksand in there and red zone at times where 9 of 17 on the year, 52%. App state is really good in the red zone on offense at 84%, 21 of 25. That is something that needs to change for us if we are going to have a chance to win this game. The other thing is, we're still 0 of 9. We have not converted a single 4th down conversion on the year.
Obviously there's different yardages that we've gone forward on 4th that make that a little bit look worse than it probably is. But, yeah, 0 percent on the year on 4th down. We gotta start figuring out a play that we can go to every time to start converting those.
I think the red zone percentage is also a symptom of not having a short to intermediate passing game as well. We're not actually in the red zone that much because we score from So far out. And then just like what our defense does, right? It compresses the area that you have to work in, and we're really good defensively there. So, yeah, I'm not saying we don't take the deep shots. Like if they're there 100 percent take them all day long.
If we can develop something that is a little bit better in the short intermediate passing game, we'd be in good shape. We've been lucky to have solid running game to kind of make up for it because if we're not able to run the ball and we don't have the short intermediate passing, I can tell you that app is going to drop seven or eight guys in coverage, play a big umbrella and we're not gonna be able to move the football down the field.
So hopefully we're able to get that run game short intermediate passing and we'll be in a little bit better shape there.
So Mike, you were talking about... You know, how good and how efficient AAP is in the red zone, I think you said 84, 85%, something really good. I don't know if you guys have it in front of you, but just from feel, it feels like our defense has been very good in the red zone. I don't know if y'all know what the percentages of us either holding them to a field goal or turning them over on downs in the red zone. Or just turning them over. But it just feels like we've been pretty darn good there.
So we are tied for 16th in the country in red zone defense.
That's pretty good.
Yeah, so there's been 28 red zone attempts against us. We've had 12 TDs scored on us, 5 on the ground, 7 through the air, 8 field goals made. So 20 of 28 against us.
Yeah. And looking at the teams that are around us, Clemson is like half a percentage point better. Other teams above us. A weird one, Georgia State is better in the red zone on defense, which is really weird. But you got Texas, Notre Dame, Iowa, Ohio State, UCLA, Oklahoma, Duke and Michigan. So we're In pretty good company there in terms of red zone defense
I will note though that Michigan is on another level with their red zone defense.
Yeah,
They're at 33%. The next closest to them is Duke at 50%.
Yeah that's just amazing.
Yeah, they're,
hasn't allowed a michigan hasn't allowed a red zone score in the last three games
Are they playing with like 12 defenders?
I don't know. I think they're playing. I think they're in big ten play now They're not playing little sisters of the poor anymore.
they've also not a lot of, they're not letting a lot of teams in the red zone at all. They've only had nine on the season. So compared to our 28 and they've played an extra game compared to us. So
Yeah You were, you talked about something else with our 4th down conversion rate and how we haven't converted one yet. There was a 4th and 4 or 4th and 5 in the Marshall game. I believe it was in the 4th quarter we round midfield. We're only down a score, definitely the right call to go for it. We ran, I think I'm going to call it the... The Decker double stack where you've got four wide receivers all stacked wide, almost all the way to the boundary. That's almost always an RPO look for us.
right? Because you may spread out the defense. So as an RPO, I think Jack made the wrong read on the defensive end. He was staring him down the whole time, gave it to the running back, got stuffed at the line of scrimmage. He keeps that. He's got 15 over to the right. So like when we're talking about quarterback play, it's not just racking up stats and all that stuff. Making the right read and running the offense.
I think the best comparison for ODU fans I can make is you, we don't need someone to be Taylor Heineke, like we don't. We need someone to be David Washington. Runs the offense, super efficient, doesn't turn the ball over, avoids sacks. I love David Washington to death. Like him and Taylor are always going to be one, two in my opinion. But that's what we need. We need someone that is, that can just come in and run this offense and doesn't need to play hero ball all the time.
I completely agree, So we're going to have a guest from App State join us shortly. So stay with us after the break. And then once that interview is over, stay with us again. And we're going to come back with predictions.
Podcast
Monarchs All right, we're back. We're going to welcome to the show from Sunbelt Syndicate, Dominic. How are you doing today, Dominic?
I'm doing great, guys. Thanks very much for having me tonight.
We're blessed to have you. Obviously you're an App State fan. Talk to us about how you got connected with App and what made you want to start Sunbelt Syndicate?
Yeah. So, I grew up in mostly Hickory, North Carolina. I was a military brat, which I'm sure you guys in the Norfolk area are all very familiar with. And probably some of you are yourselves. But yeah we moved around a little bit, but mostly in Hickory, North Carolina, which is about an hour south of Boone. And so I was obviously aware of the university. But it was nowhere near the level that it is today.
When I moved up to Pennsylvania to finish high school up there, I had a friends many friends actually, luckily that had actually attended app and I had one that was looking for a roommate and said, Hey man, I know you probably want to end up back down this way. And I gave it a shot and I never officially went to app state. I went to the community college. That's kind of, you know, a stone's throw away. But I got to do all the fun stuff, you know, being a roommate of.
Two or three other app state people at a time. I attended basketball, football, fell in love with just the culture and the atmosphere of the area in general, but obviously of the athletics program as well. And then starting the Sunbelt Syndicate? was pretty much just loving the fact that we had so many teams that were more regional. And obviously with last year's additions coming in early, you guys being obviously a big part of that. It was.
You know, solidified that this was going to be a place that. A lot of teams aren't going to be looking to move out of anytime soon. And so with that being done and bringing a more solid base to this conference overall, I said let's just do something to kind of provide some further coverage. I've got a lot of team podcast and team people specific. And then we have, you know, ferry and Smith who do a great job as well.
And I, this year is finally teamed up with someone who actually played the game, unlike myself in a TJ Corman. who was a three time national champion and on the team when they did beat michigan. So definitely he had a shot at the pros as well. So definitely knows what he's talking about X's and O's wise and he's added a lot. I've seen my numbers jump up tremendously. So I knew that having one person on a podcast wasn't the great thing long term. So very happy to have added him to the show.
Unfortunately he couldn't Be with us tonight as he's a little under the weather. But yeah, that's our hope is just to kind of provide some overall sense of the conference and have, it'll be a little bit more fun as we interact with fans across the across the landscape of the conference overall.
Oh, that's fantastic. We've enjoyed your content and obviously we were fans of the college football dogs, your podcast. So app comes in this game three and three, just like old dominion. Obviously this is kind of like a crossroads for both teams. Whoever wins has a, their bowl hopes remain strong. Whoever loses their ball hopes take a big hit. Talk to us about what your preseason kind of feelings around the program were like and your expectations and how they adjusted up to this point.
Yeah, that's a great question. I know TJ and I kind of previewed app and obviously had having played there. His thoughts and feelings were a little bit stronger than mine. I think he thought that they would rebound quite well and only have kind of one or two losses overall for the entire season. I predicted them to have. Two of the losses they had early on. I thought they would lose to UNC in Wyoming, which has happened. And then I thought they would lose one later, like a random Sunbelt game.
So I just kind of tossed a coin up in the air and picked one. And I just said Southern Miss, which doesn't look like the smartest pick now, obviously should have gone ahead and gone with that coastal Carolina one. Although previously they had never won in Boone. So there was a thought there, I think my thoughts and feelings on the overall outlook was.
That they would rebound because they had enough close games that they could have or should have won last season that they would hopefully kind of transition into. more wins this year. They did lose the quarterback position. Chase Bryce so quick quarterback was a big question mark coming in.
However I was of the thought with what I had seen on film of one of the transfer quarterbacks Aguilar from a community college in California of all places brought under the mountain by Frank Ponce as he was being recruited down in Miami before Ponce left Miami to come back to app state. This season to be O. C. So luckily we lucked out with this kid, but he had more of a scrambling aspect to his game.
And I thought that was what we really, truly missed with chase Bryce, great pocket passer pretty good with the ball in his hand, but just couldn't provide that rushing. Or running capability that we at F state have had over the years and really kind of made our game on when it's needed to be made. They're in the close games when it needs to be done. So I, I was. Very optimistic going into this evening.
Even though Ryan Berger was actually named the starter to start with, I had a feeling that Aguilar would at some point. be the starter and it's not necessarily that he all of a sudden played better. We know that Berger had gotten hurt in the first game and that's why Aguilar got his time, but he doesn't seem to be... Disappointing anyone thus far. I don't believe, I mean, offense has been pretty good.
It's been the defense that's kind of been lacking in that regard, but I think overall for the season, I had expected them to return to some glory and easily kind of returned to a bowl game and not much else. I knew, you know, new year's six, wasn't, it wasn't a real strong possibility and that they would have some issues at some positions because of the youth that they were going to have there, but that was my outlook preseason.
All right, I promise we will only bring this up once and we won't bully or pick on you for it. But Last time out had coastal come to town lose really kind of a heartbreaker there 27 24 What were your takeaways coming from that coastal game? And then we'll forget about coastal carolina for a
Not a problem. Not a problem. Yeah. So going into that game, I felt very confident. I knew coastal would put up points. They have the offense. Grayson McCall has always kind of been a stitch in our side. It's been very successful there in Conway when we've played. Unfortunately for him, it hasn't translated into Playing so well at in Boone but he definitely put his best game together.
We know historically he has been not, he hasn't thrown many interceptions and he had kind of had this spell earlier this season where that was kind of going a different way. And I think part of that is him and Tim Beck, the new head coach, they're kind of trying to figure each other out and tailor that McCall's game to. Beck style of offense. And I think this game against app, unfortunately, for app state was the turning point of the season for them.
I think they've got a nice mix of how they want to run the offense and an understanding by McCall and an understanding from Beck of what McCall is good at and what he wants to do and what he's very capable of doing. And we saw that, unfortunately, Tuesday night. And I think the big turning point really was that 14 point lead they jumped out to. I think after that, it was a very evenly matched game overall.
But once, once they were down 14, it just always felt like they weren't going to get, they weren't going to jump ahead at any point. It was always kind of playing catch up and hoping to just have Coastal make a mistake in order to really get back in control of the game. Which looked like it was going to go our way once we had that long pass downfield. And Tucker has the fumble. And then at that point, you kind of felt like that was all she wrote, even before they started that drive.
It wasn't going to be looking good for us.
All right, Dominic. So what position group are you most confident about? And then which one do you have the most concerns about?
Yeah, so I think traditionally the running back position has been the strongest. However. It feels weird this year. I think we have a lot of capable running backs and Nate Noel before last week was the second leading rusher in all of NCAA football. He gets dinged up early in the coastal game, walked off the field on his own accord, but for some reason didn't return. So I'm guessing he's got a nice little, I mean, it was an ugly tackle, not dirty, but.
The way he caught the ball, he wasn't facing upfield and the guy caught him from behind again, clean tackle, but just unfortunate. So with that being said, now that we've relied on some of the other guys to do it they're not lacking, but for whatever reason, we're not having these big burst from the running back position. So I'm going to say our wide receiver position is very solid to me. I've. Learn to really trust them with how Aguilar throws the ball to make the big plays in the big moments.
Dalton Stroman being, I think he's like 6'5 He's had a couple of amazing catches that just looked like he shouldn't have caught them a big one in the UNC game on, I believe, a fourth downplay just looked like it was going straight over his head and somehow miraculously pulls it in. So I've really come to learn and to trust our wide receivers earlier this year than I had expected to overall, but the lacking is definitely defensive side with the secondary and it's.
Luckily, not necessarily based on talent. I don't think we've had a thunder book Burke from Richmond up there closer to you guys who transferred in have to pick sixes this year, but it's just like the small mental mistakes like for whatever reason they left their assignment, or they have this big gap because two guys went to the same. side of the field when one of them should have stayed there in the middle. I don't know what that is. We've had T. J. Talk about it.
You know, he's got the playing experience on the offensive side to kind of tell us a little bit more about? that. He even had questions early on in that coastal game about what we had run defensively where these lapses were happening and why part of it could have been play calling. Part of it is just not staying on your assigned guy.
The second touchdown we brought up on the Video version of the podcast where for whatever reason, I believe it was our corner and our safety both jumped the route from the wide receiver looking for a McCall pitch to the backfield. Well, we had a linebacker right over there to the side who could have made that play had that been needed. So now this wide receiver catches a wide open pass.
For six right over the tops of two guys and favors is the one who I guess was out of position the most because as the safety, he puts his head hand right on his head. Kind of, to me, given away the fact that maybe he was the guy who jumped when he shouldn't have. But yeah, that. For whatever reason, they seem to give up the big plays, which you guys have experienced when you went up against Marshall and had what, 3 runs that were almost 70 yards a piece by Calloway there.
Yeah. three of the top five longest runs in all of Indian history. I think that was the number we figured out all in one
So, so that's how he's averaged over 12 yards of carry then, huh?
that he doesn't get enough carries
Yeah that's also true. I haven't, you know, listened to the last episode talking about Wicks as well. And that the move he pulled off at the end of that game to help solidify that win over Southern Miss. Yeah you definitely have, I guess, I don't know if people would describe it as a two headed monster in the backfield, but two extremely capable running backs who are very dangerous when they touch the ball.
So. Definitely something that I hope our defense can cue on when those guys are touching the ball in the backfield.
Yeah, and that's without a consistent passing game. So imagine if the passing game finally starts to click, how much more dangerous that run game gets.
Absolutely.
so I'd like to talk to you about Coach Clark. This is his fourth year. Obviously he started out really strong those first two seasons. The last two, you've had some big wins, but I've noticed a lot on Twitter and on social media sites It seems kind of like the fan base is starting to split on Coach Clark.
Yes.
can you talk to us about that and where you're at on Coach Clark?
Yeah, T. J. Had some comments to share to which to start with that and why some of the thoughts and feelings toward coach Clark exist is a lot of people agree with this and TJ's thought is that the offense is very predictable. So, he believes that, you know, his own read, go route wide receiver screen and slants Basically, the entire playbook. So if you can queue on which one of those your app state's running, you've got a great chance to stop them defensively.
However, on the opposite side of that, you look at how many points they've scored. They're averaging about Just over 34 points per game. So at the same time that offense is predictable, it seems to be working just enough. As we talked about he thought the defense was wildly inconsistent, but he did make mention of the serious questions on coach Clark continuing after this season.
I think you're seeing a very vocal minority on the fire him now train, but I think you're seeing a vocal majority when they're questioning him. So I think. Nobody's well, I don't know. I think some people are panicking. I think that's the vocal minority, but the vocal majority that are just at least having questions and asking whether he is the right guy are starting to get closer to that panic button. But the other ones have probably already hit it.
I don't think it's quite time myself, mainly because he's an upstate guy, tradition and culture through and through when he was hired. A lot of people love the higher a lot of the Current and previous players love the hire because they felt like he embodied the program. He brought back in a longtime Coach Jerry Moore, who had obviously all the success there when he was coaching because the last 2 kind of coaching staffs or 80 had kind of.
For whatever reason, kind of shoot him away from the program. So a lot of people love the fact that Clark was kind of reconnecting with these other coaches of the past and trying to keep the history and tradition there. So I think people value that and people like that and they want that to continue. They want him to succeed. Ultimately, I just don't think that we're seeing it when it comes down to the close games. That's where he's really lacking is winning those close games.
And early on, I think it was definitely an effect of His play calling in certain situations, either being too overly aggressive, which I thought was the case a lot last year, part of that probably had to do with not trusting his kicker as hopefully he has done this year. Obviously, kicking a 54 yard game when you feel a goal against ULM goes a long way to make you feel better about the kicking position.
But yeah, I think at this point of the season for me, when I go back and watch the games and I'm not there live thinking my thoughts and emotions at the time. I'm seeing play calls that should work. I mean, they've hit on fourth downs. They've hit wide receivers in the hands and they've dropped it or on a third and short, they were very easily there defensively in the right play call. But for whatever reason, the players didn't make a play. So I have kind of come back from the edge on the Clark?
train and I think we're fine as long as the winning continues, obviously. So that's the most important factor for anybody, but I think it's even more important now with where he's at. The lack of championships lately, obviously the lack of a bowl game last year was a big disappointment, especially after a great start to the season to end it without a bowl was frankly quite shocking to most everybody. And it's just not gonna, it's not gonna do it for the app state fan base. today
The bar there is definitely high, especially after winning three straight f c s national titles, then beating Michigan and really having great success ever since. Really coming up to f b s, you've been one of the better teams, one of the ones to kind of model after of making that jump from f c s to f B S. So asking this question of people as we meet along the way here, especially as Old Dominion is still new in the Sunbelt but you know, how do you personally view O D U as a program?
What are your thoughts and kind of. What was your mindset when you kind of thought that, Hey, Odie, you may be coming into the Sunbelt.
Yeah, so when you came in, I'll be honest, I was like. Great to have them, but I wasn't there was no, I wasn't up here and I wasn't down here. And I think and then part of that is just. Where the program was at that time, right? They weren't, you know, a conference USA champion all the time or anything. And so.
You're looking at Marshall coming in with the history and tradition of playing against App State specifically and then them having, you know, a history of winning a lot of championships overall. But where I did think that it would really help is the fact that, and we all know this, you guys have a very fruitful recruiting ground there, and we all know that's very great place to grab players from and I thought that, you know, with their jump up. Or I guess you guys don't look at it as a jump up.
Maybe you can expand on that, but you know, with
100 percent a jump up
Yeah.
gotcha. Yeah, well.
about the move.
Yeah, well, certainly over this current iteration of Conference USA at this point that's definitely gotta be a, Yeah. something you're glad not to be a part of. But yeah, I mean, I thought that would be great in the fact that it brings in you and JMU, because to me, if you would have brought in JMU and not brought you guys in, you kind of got this outlier there in Virginia.
I mean, I know you've got the schools in the Appalachia area with Marshall JMU and App State there, but I think it's nice to bring in the old EU area of Norfolk and have somebody that hopefully has the talent there locally and obviously has put in a lot of time, money and effort into. Upping facilities which I think, you know, obviously JMU has done as well. And I think they're seeing the fruits of that labor pay off.
I'm sure you guys are aware, but I've heard all kinds of stuff about their basketball facility there. And I know that you guys really packed the house quite a bit last year for basketball. When that team, you know, we just talked about it, I think, before we were starting to record, it's how much they were just in just about every single game.
From beginning to end or even actually, I think I remember some games where you guys are down like 10 or 12 points, but then come on, there's a huge run at the end and it just took everything from the other team to try and beat you. So, I think we're seeing that in football this year, right? I mean, last year, I actually thought your team would be better than it is this year.
If you compared the 2 rosters, I mean, you had going blank on the name, but the tight end from Penn State that had transferred in.
Zach Kuntz.
Zach Kuhn. So I mean, he had some injury issues last year, unfortunately, I think, and then maybe not the season that you guys thought, or maybe he even thought that he should have had before trying to go, you know, try his luck at the NFL. I just thought that team on the field would have kind of been better than it was. And then you lose running back before this season started to the transfer portal to where'd he end up going.
Blake Watson,
Watt. Yeah. Went to Memphis. He's tearing it up there
Exactly. And he had that huge game against Georgia Southern. And it's like, man, you know, they've lost their running back. They lost this tight end everyone's talking about. And so what are they replacing these guys with? It's obviously more talent. I mean, we talked about, you know, the two running backs already. I think, like you guys said, maybe more consistent play out of the quarterback position.
I believe you guys are leaning towards Wilson being the starter for this one, and I think he played the most there in that last game as well, right?
Yeah.
So, Yeah. I mean, I think that's been a consistent problem for Sunbelt teams that haven't been at the top is the quarterback play. Once you get that solidified, I think that becomes, ODU becomes a lot more dangerous. Obviously, you've got Jason Henderson on the defensive side, who's probably the best linebacker in all of football. Forget the G5, forget the Sunbelt. I mean, I think you were to touch on, is it 90 plus tackles already for the season?
Yeah. I think it's 92 or 93, right?
I believe. And he's leading the country in tackles for loss as well. Two and a half a game.
Yeah, it's so I, I compared that to the top tackler individually for app state, and I believe he's sitting at 49. So just for some of the people that are listening, there is a massive gap and I'm not saying that anybody on app is even close anyways, but just as a basic, you know, you know, apps put up a bunch of points and their teams have done the same to them.
There's an opportunity to make a lot of tackles, but Henderson is just far surpassing it and is obviously just reads the field really well. So, a generational talent there at ODU. So it shows that you guys can bring in the type of talent it takes to compete in this conference. And once the QB position is solidified, I think you're just as dangerous as anybody else across the conference, to be totally honest with you.
I'll add this I mean, I think you're not going to get many arguments from last year from Old Dominion fans that we all expected better. I mean, we led the G5 with three drafted players. That shouldn't equate to a three win team, but we had a whole mess with the offensive coordinator position and that really kind of sunk the season, I believe. But I'm going to let Aaron take this one.
All right? So on Saturday, Dominic, I know it's 7 p. m. You're going to be tuned in and you're probably going to be looking for a lot of different things. But if you had to pick one specific facet. What are you looking for?
order to be successful or not blow it.
Hey, whichever direction you want to go.
I think it's got to be an early, strong start defensively. I think up front, we haven't had much of a pass rush this season, and I think maybe that's why it's showing some of the deficiency as far as the secondary is concerned. So if we can bring a little bit of early pressure, we obviously don't seem to be blitzing as much as we have historically either, which again, I'm sure that's a schematic thing because it's been consistent.
So I'm not sure if there's something that they may see on film where they try and do that more, or they just say, Hey, we need a fast start. We're going to bring the pressure more early on in this one and establish a better game defensively than we did last week versus Coastal Carolina. I got to see something more from the defense. Stop. You got to stop with the mental lapses and the mental mistakes. I think the play calling is still there.
Like I said earlier, I don't think it's necessarily a terrible defensive play calling. I think it's more on just the players making the place. So it's got to be a strong start for them to do what they want to try and do in this game to have success.
So you mentioned a lack of blitzing. Could that be related at all to them maybe trying to protect their secondary?
Yeah, I think it could. I think early on to this wasn't the strongest linebacking core. We've been used to having some pretty talented guys there. Obviously, you know how important that is with Henderson in your backfield. I think we've. We found that they're fine. I don't think they're anything as quite good as we've had, unfortunately. But yeah I do think that they've kind of let some of the play come to them more.
And part of that is not bringing the pressure has still led to some mistakes offensively for the other team. Like I spoke about earlier, there's two pick sixes for Funderburk on the defensive side at the corner position.
So they've got talented guys to make plays, but yeah, I think maybe the inexperience or the youth before the season started maybe led to that and they've just, for whatever reason, seem to stick with it, even though, like I said, it may have been a detriment in some of these games to. Not bring that pressure and try and force the quarterback into a bad throw or a bad read and take further advantage of that. But I think the linebackers are secure enough. We've got that 3 4 front.
You know, I think it's become a little stronger than it started the season. The UNC game, I think, was one of the better ones, even though we gave up a couple. Much like Marshall did to you guys, a couple really massive runs to the other team, but down for down when you look at it overall, still did pretty well defensively kind of controlling the run. But yeah, it probably is to protect the secondary? to start with.
I think now we've seen as long as they're not making the mental lapses they can still be very capable of taking care of business on that side of things.
Alright, so, here comes the time that everybody's waiting for. What's your prediction for what's going to go down Saturday night in Norfolk?
Yeah, so I guess app has scored a decent amount of points throughout the season. They had a very weird game up at Wyoming where they got into the red zone multiple times. They couldn't put it in the end zone. Obviously your defense is very capable of having that same success, shutting them down towards the red zone. Part of that could be some of that predictable offense that they've run. I still think that they can put up points that really hasn't been.
Too much of an issue for them scoring over 40 points a few times this year in the high thirties. These last 2 weeks have been a little bit stranger. Hopefully they can round back into form and return to the 30 plus point range. And I think unfortunately, even if the defense comes up big, like we've mentioned.
You're, you've got the same type of playmakers at the running back position that can make those big gashes if our guys aren't sounding the gaps and taking care of their coverage where they're supposed to be. So I still think you guys score over 30 points as well and I think we have one heck of a barn burner to show the nation on NFL Network, but I am still going to pick.
The app team as the Homerism pick, but also feel like they have to win this game to kind of write the ship, make people feel more comfortable with the coaching staff and the players on the field. So, all that being said, I'm going to go with a weird score, but I'm going to go with app state 36 ODU 31, and it could be flipped and I wouldn't be shocked at that either.
All right, Dominic first of all, I want to thank you for joining us tonight. Before you go, are you making the trip to Norfolk? And do you expect a lot of ear fans to make the trip as well?
I think a lot more people would have made the trip myself included had it been some type of early afternoon start. I know app state traditional likes to play that 3 30 slot. That would have been a sweet spot for me. I'm located here in Durham, North Carolina. So I'm about 3, 3 and a half hours at most from you guys.
Unfortunately, with that seven, seven o'clock kick, it's going to be rough because I usually try and take my five year old with me, but that's a little too late for a up and back trip. So no, unfortunately I won't be at the game. I'd love to be there, but no, I won't be making the trip for this one. I do think you'll see a decent amount of app state fans. I think you would have seen more had they had more success early on in the season, to be honest with you.
But I do think you'll see a good number of app fans still in the stadium on Saturday night.
All right, well, it's a bummer we won't get to meet you. But thank you so much for joining us tonight. We're going to take a quick break and we'll be back with our predictions for the game.
podcast
Monarchs All right, Monarch Nation, thank you for tuning in tonight. We're going to finish the show up with some predictions. First off, Aaron, let's hear it
All right. You know, I'm feeling surprisingly good about this week. Maybe it's because we haven't had football at Ballard in a while and I'm just excited about it. It's the Oyster Bowl. You know, so, you know, what better than a win with the Oyster Bowl? I still think that there's going to be a lot of points scored in this game. But ultimately, I think it's going to come down to a field goal. And I legitimately think that it's going to be won by a field goal by Ethan Sanchez.
It won't be a 50 yarder this week. But I think that we win by three. And You know, our realistic hopes for a bowl are intact.
All right. Well, this is a huge game for both teams. There's not an easy path forward to six wins for either one. If they lose this game app schedule, the rest of the way is pretty brutal outside of Southern Miss. We're pretty much in, in the same boat with some tough road games. We got to win all three home games. I think I'm going to lean on Ricky Ronnie being three and oh, after the bi week during his career here at ODU. Or I guess 2 0 and this will be 3 0. That's my hope.
I'm going to lean on that. I'm going to lean on us being 8 3 in the Oyster Bowl. And I think that this is the game where the quarterback position is solved. Their weakness is our strength with that deep pass. I think we make a few more big plays than they do. And I think we're actually going to win this game by right around seven. So give me ODU plus the six and a half for sure, but ODU wins this by seven at home.
I am torn, and I think part of that is our history with App State has not been very kind to Old Dominion and has left me with some, I don't know, it's not great, my feelings when I see Old Dominion playing App State. That first game, I remember being so excited about it in Boone, and that pains me to this day how bad that game was. So that, that's the back of my head. However, I know our defense has been playing amazing football. Our running game works.
And the passing game has had two weeks to iron things out and improve. It's time to, those bad feelings, they're there. But it's time to bury them. It's time to unleash the beast of this offense and click on all cylinders. We've been waiting for it again since Louisiana. Two weeks to prepare. I think it happens. I think this ODU minus eight.
Oh, Mike just
I like it a
the big blue beast, Gary. And I like
So, so Mike, you're smelling the blood in the water of this team's been destroyed by Apsate all three times in the past. They're down a little bit this year. The boys are just smelling it And got to come after it. I like it.
And the team has to have seen the things that have been written about them. They're being doubted all year. They're picked last. They've had two weeks to think about this game and Ricky knows how to get these guys going after a buy. I mean, let's just do it. ODU wins. That's all that matters. I don't care if it's by 1 point or 30. Old Dominion wins. Let's go. Go Monarchs.
I'm loving it. Was that the close, Mike?
Toys for Tots.
Yeah, we have a couple closing items to talk about before we go. Alright, November 4th is going to be our annual Toys for Tots game. We, if you can't come to the game, you will be able to make a donation online if you'd like to. Monetary donations are accepted. The Marine Corps will use that money, or the Toys for Tots Foundation will use that money to buy toys for kids in Hampton Roads. Who need a Christmas. So, please, I'm sorry.
No, I'm sorry. Mike. I was just going to say, and if you're technologically challenged, like Major Monarch is, you can bring cash to the lots as well. The Marines will be walking around with ammo cans. They'll be happy to take your cash donation if you don't want to do one online. If you're unable to get a new unwrapped toy, or you just don't feel like going out. The Marines will be able to take that cash and they'll purchase toys for children in the Old Dominion community.
Yeah, and there'll be drop off locations on Coffman Mall. There will be two armored vehicles on 49th Street. So come to blue light coffin mall, 49th street. We'll not be able to miss it. Thank you all. We're hoping to break last year's record.
So, we're gonna have two tanks on campus. Last year having one was really cool. But this year, we're also gonna have another flyover. F 18s, flying over the game, courtesy of Major Monarch, setting that up. This is going to be a really great pre game atmosphere on November 4th, so please join us in making this a great Christmas for all the kids in Hampton Roads by bringing a toy or some cash. Do we have anything else we want to hit up before we close this out?
Only other thing, I just as a shameless plug, Mike at the, towards the end of October, be on the lookout for the second season. Of the Monarchs basketball show. Well, we'll have coach Jeff Jones on every week, along with a player from the team. We've got a lot of fresh new faces on the team. So you'd be wanting you'll be sure to want to tune in and get to know those guys a little bit better. So just be on the lookout and the next few weeks for the first episode.
and plenty of coverage on ODU monarchist. com.
and I have one more thing to add. Alright Monarchs, so we've tried this in the past. We have a phone number and we want to hear your thoughts, whether you're asking questions of us after a game, or you're just reacting and you want to share how you feel about the old division football team, we want to hear your thoughts. So call us at 7 5 7 7 that's 7 3 5. Those last four numbers should be pretty. Easy to remember. 49 35. It should ring a bell. So give us a call.
Let us know how you feel about Old Dominion football. Whether you just want to go crazy over a win or a loss. Or you just want to ask us a question and make sure we go over it. Give us a call. We will listen to every single one and pick the best. I think that's a, that's where we close it today, fellas.
Sounds good to me, man.
Alright. Beat App. Go Monarchs.
Go Monarchs.
Go Monarchs.
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