Aug. 25, 2009
NORFOLK, Va. -- The ODU football continued to install its offensive and defensive packages Tuesday night and get a better idea of the two-deep in their third scrimmage of the preseason at Foreman Field. Monarch drills included the two-minute drill and playing overtime, while ODU staff continued to work on the game day presentation, which tonight included the band and cheerleaders.
Quarterbacks Bobby Cooper (Davidsonville, Md.) and Thomas DeMarco (Palm Desert, Calif.) combined to connect on 26 of 45 attempts. Cooper threw for three touchdowns including a 79-yard pass to running back Desmond Williams (Windsor, N.C.) to close out the first quarter of action. Cooper also found redshirt sophomore tight end James Edwards (Va. Beach, Va.) for 6-yard touchdown pass and redshirt junior tight end Matt Carillo (La Miranda, Calif.) for a 3-yard touchdown during overtime. DeMarco had a three-yard run into the endzone for the game's first scoring drive and had a 25-yard pass to rookie wide receiver Marquel Thomas (Va. Beach, Va.) on third and 10 on one of the final plays of the scrimmage.
Dan Pitts (Va. Beach, Va.) also saw time as the signal caller with a 16-yard pass to wide receiver Chris Lovitt (Stafford, Va.) in the third quarter.
Defensively, linebacker Jake Sweedyk (Walker, Mich.) posted five tackles, including three solo takedowns and lineman Chad King (Springfield, Va.) had three solo stops, including one for a loss of 15 yards and a forced fumble. Linebacker Michael Colbert (Fayetteville, N.C.) had a 57-yard interception looking like he was making his way into the end zone before stepping out-of-bounds at the 12-yard line.
Drew Hareza (McDonald, Pa.) sailed the ball through the uprights in four of his five field goal attempts. His lone miss was a 52-yard kick that had the ball hit the upright. Hareza also nailed all five of his PAT's.
The Monarchs return back to the Powhatan practice fields tomorrow, but still have one more scrimmage under their belts on Saturday.
Monarch Moments
The Two-Deep: The coaching staff is getting closer to knowing who their starters are. "We went into tonight with a pretty good idea of who was who," said head coach Bobby Wilder. "We did some rotations tonight. We needed to see some kids in difficult situations. We are starting to narrow the scope on who the starters are."
Play Count: If you were watching from the parking garage, you may have noticed the third quarter was awfully fast. In the first scrimmage, the Monarchs had 125 plays, while tonight they limited it 75 snaps. By halftime, the squad had already had approximately 55 snaps. "That's what this offense does," noted Wilder. "This offense runs a boat load of plays. If you watch the 40 second clock, our guys are snapping at the 25. Teams that huddle are taking it down to five seconds. So we are running so many plays and its compounded by the fact that both offenses out there are running the spread."
Making It Sound Like A Full House: Scrimmages are closed to the public, but to simulate what it would be like in front of nearly 20,000 people on September 5th, fake crowd noise was pumped through the speakers throughout the Tuesday night scrimmage.
Student Tickets: Student tickets are being gobbled up for the Sept. 5th game vs. Chowan. Roughly 100 student tickets were left as of this afternoon. ODU students still have a chance at a ticket by visiting either the Constant Center Box Office or Campus Information Desk at Webb Center. You must have a valid ODU student ID.
Opponent Update: Chowan, ODU's first opponent on Sept. 5th, opens their 2009 season on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. at home against Albany State.
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