Aug. 26, 2010
NORFOLK, Va. -- The ODU Football Monarchs will be working in what head coach Bobby Wilder has referred to as "Bonus Time" over the next two days before preseason camp ends and the student-athletes begin classes on Monday.
Normally, the coaching staff gets to work on their next opponent starting the Sunday following game day. But with the squad in preseason workouts, the Monarchs were able to work on some Jacksonville drills on Thursday and will continue to do so on Friday.
Saturday, the Monarchs will take the "Monarch March" down to Foreman Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium for a scrimmage. The scrimmage is closed to the public unless Big Blue Club members have signed up for the Big Blue Kickoff Party.
In Thursday's practice during third down drills, Wilder and staff varied the distance the offense had to work at getting past the marker.
Several times the offense was able to break through included two carries by Desmond Williams (Windsor, N.C.) and Mario Crawford (Detroit, Mich.). Nick Mayers (Va. Beach, Va.) reached up to catch a high lateral pass, but was stopped in his tracks at the line of scrimmage by Alex Arain (Va. Beach, Va.) and Alex Johnson (New Canton, Va.). Mayers later had a one-handed catch and nearly got to the down marker before stopped.
Dominique Blackman (Los Angeles, Calif.) had a QB keeper through a hole in the d-line and also connected with fellow Monarch newcomers Prentice Gill (Los Angeles, Calif.) and Lyshod Graves (Reidsville, N.C.).
MONARCH MOMENTS:
BREAKFAST WITH BOBBY:
Virginian Pilot beat writer Rich Radford's Monday morning talk with head coach Bobby Wilder will continue this fall with the first episode gearing up on Monday.
SPICY GARLIC OR ASIAN ZING?:
Also next week, the Coors Light Bobby Wilder Coach's Show begins. Note that the first show will be this Monday and resume back to its normal Thursday night time slot the following week. Join Coach Wilder and "The Voice of the Monarchs" Ted Alexander at Buffalo Wild Wings in Greenbrier.
STUDENT TICKETS:
Student tickets for the ODU football game Sept. 4th game with Jacksonville will be made available at the Constant Center Box Office beginning on Monday, August 30th at 7 a.m. with line-up beginning at the box office at 6 a.m. NO camping out will be permitted. Students must present a valid ODU student ID. Limited guest tickets are available at $15 per ticket and limited to one per student. Other games will be made available ten (10) days prior kickoff at either the Constant Center Box Office or Webb Center.
GOT ACCESS:
Monarch All-Access is currently linking up all your audio and video needs for a Football Monarchs fix. Don't forget to sign up to get the video of all home games, weekly press conferences, post-game press conferences, audio of the coach's shows, and away games and more. First event will be Coach Wilder's weekly press conference available on Monarch All-Access on Monday afternoon.
ON THE FLIP SIDE:
With time running out of the preseason, On The Flip Side took the flip cam out to practice today to talk about two positions with head coach Bobby Wilders - the defensive backs and offensive line.