GAME THREE: #6/4 Old Dominion vs. Campbell

Sept. 12, 2012

GAME THREE: 
Saturday, September 15, 2012 - 6:00 p.m. (EST)
Foreman Field at S.B. Stadium - Norfolk, Va.
#6/4 Old Dominion Monarchs (2-0, 0-0 CAA) vs.
Campbell Camels (1-1, 0-0 Pioneer)

CONSTRUCTION ALERT:  The Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel (HRBT) from the Peninsula to Southside will be closed ALL weekend for construction for next THREE weekends.  

TV:  None

RADIO: ESPN Radio 94.1 FM (Hampton Roads);WZEZ-FM - EZ 100.5 FM (Richmond) 
(Ted Alexander - Play-by-Play; Andy Mashaw - Color; Rich Radford - Sideline)

LIVESTATS: Gametracker via ODUSports.com

VIDEO: ODUSports.com (subscription required)

CAA WEEKLY TELECONFERENCE AUDIO: Available at the CAA Press Box at CAAFootball.com

ODU WEEKLY PRESS CONFERENCE VIDEO: Available on Monarch Media

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THE QUICK HITS:

•  Old Dominion Football is in its fourth season overall and final year in the Colonial Athletic Association.  The Monarchs are coming off a 45-7 victory at Hampton in their first road contest of the season in a weather shortened contest.  ODU will be taking on Campbell facing the Camels for the fourth straight season.

• The Monarchs rank among the top 10 in five categories this week.  The Monarchs come in third nationally in Passing Offense (352.5) and Total Offense (536.5), fifth in Scoring Offense (51.00), and sixth in Total Defense (198.0) and Rushing Defense (42.50).  

•  After picking up Sports Network National and Colonial Atheltic Association Player of the Week honors, sophomore quarterback Taylor Heinicke passed for 213 yards and ran the ball for 55 yards to continue to lead the nation in total offense at just under 400 yards through two games. 

• The Monarchs have won six of their last seven games dating back to October 22nd of last season and are currently riding a four-game home win streak.  ODU's last home loss was a 23-20 setback to #17/23 Towson on October 15, 2011.

• Including last Saturday's contest at Hampton, nine of Old Dominion's 11 games will be played in the Commonwealth of Virginia.  In fact, the Monarchs will not even have to leave the state until the October 20th contest at Towson.  

•  The Monarchs moved up to their highest ranking to-date following Saturday's 45-7 win over Hampton.  ODU comes into Saturday ranked No. 6 in The Sports Network Poll and  No. 4 in the FCS Coaches Poll, their second week in the Coaches Poll Top-5 and highest ranking to date.

COMPARE & CONTRAST:

RISING UP THE RANKS:  

It took the ODU Football Monarchs until year three and 27 games to receive its first Top 25 ranking on October 3, 2011, coming in at No. 21 in The Sports Network Poll.  Looking at other recent start-up programs, it took Coastal Carolina 32 games to achieve a national ranking when they came in at No. 24 in The Sports Network Poll in their third year on Nov. 8, 2005.  That season the Chanticleers finished 9-2 and were the Big South co-champions.  The Monarchs enter Saturday ranked at No. 4 in the FCS Coaches Poll and No. 6 in The Sports Network Poll.

WELCOME TO THE TOP 25:

The Football Monarch have been a member of the Top-25 for the last 11 week in the The Sports Network Poll and the last 10 weeks of the FCS Coaches Poll dating back to last season.  ODU has been member of the Top-10 for the last five weeks dating back to last season.

ODU FOOTBALL IN THE POLLS

- Complete TSN Poll

- Complete FCS Coaches Poll

IN OPENERS:

Old Dominion improved to 3-1 all-time in season openers in week one:

Old Dominion In Season Openers:

9/5/2009 - vs. Chowan W, 36-21

9/4/2010 - vs. Jacksonville L, 25-35

9/3/2011 - vs. Campbell W, 41-14 

9/1/2012 - vs. Duquesne W, 57-23

Old Dominion is currently 4-0 all-time in road openers including last weekend's win at Hampton:

Old Dominion In Road Openers:

9/19/2009 - at Jacksonville W, 28-27

9/11/2010 - at Campbell W, 35-21

9/10/2011 - at Georgia State W, 40-17

9/8/2012 - at Hampton W, 45-7

Old Dominion is currently 0-1 all-time in CAA openers:

Old Dominion In CAA Openers:

9/24/2011 - at #7/6 Delaware L, 17-27

Old Dominion is currently 1-0  all-time in CAA home openers:

Old Dominion In CAA Home Openers:

10/1/2011 - vs. #20 UMass W, 48-33

MOST AND LEAST:

The 57 points scored by the Monarchs against Duquesne in week one tied the record for most points in a game scored by ODU along with the Monarchs' 57-9 victory over Savannah State on November 6, 2010.  Old Dominion is currently ranked fifth in scoring offense averaging 51 points throught two games.

1. 57, Duquesne, Sept. 1, 2012; 57, Savannah State, Nov. 6, 2010

2. 49, Virginia Union, Sept. 12, 2009

3. 48, at #3/2 Georgia Southern, Dec. 3, 2011; 48, #20 UMass, Oct. 1, 2011

4. 45, VMI, Nov. 13, 2010; 45, Hampton, Sept. 17, 2011; 45, Hampton, Sept. 8, 2012

In week two, the seven points scored by Hampton tied the record for fewest points in a game scored by an opponent along with the Monarchs' 14-7 win over Gardner-Webb on Oct. 2, 2010.  

1. 7, Gardner Webb, Oct. 2, 2010; 7, at Hampton, Sep. 8, 2012

2. 9, Savannah State, Nov. 6, 2010

3. 10, Georgetown, Oct. 31, 2009

4. 13, at Campbell, Sep. 11, 2010

5. 14, at Hampton, Oct. 30, 2010; 14, Campbell, Sep. 3, 2011; 14, at Villanova, Oct. 22, 2011

BY THE QUARTERS:

Old Dominion is currently outscoring its opponents 38-27 in the first half of contests and 64-3 in the second half. The Monarchs haven't let an opponent onto the scoreboard in either the first or third quarters. ODU has outscored the opposition 17-0 in the first quarter, 34-0 in the third quarter, and 30-3 in the fourth quarter. The second quarter meanwhile has ODU opponents outscoring the Monarchs 27-21, which includes Hampton's lone touchdown last Saturday.

ACTIVE TOUCHDOWN CAREER LEADERS:

With his seven touchdowns on the year, sophomore Taylor Heinicke is currently 17th among active quarterbacks in career touchdowns.  Heinicke is the youngest member of the list.

Name, School: Year Career TDs

1. Matt Brown, Illinois St. Sr. 55

2. Zach Lewis, Morehead St. Sr. 53

3. DeNarius McGhee, Montana St. Jr. 52

4.  Sean Patterson, Duquesne Sr. 48

5. Mason Mills, San Diego Jr. 44

5. Casey Brockman, Murray St. Sr. 44

7. Kurt Hess, Youngstown St. Jr. 42

7. Jeff Sinclair, Robert Morris Sr. 42

7. Brad Sorensen, Southern Utah Sr. 42

10. Derek Carr, Tenn.-Martin Sr. 40

10. Jimmy Garoppolo, Eastern Ill. Jr. 40

12. Sean Brackett, Columbia Sr. 38

13. T.J. Pryor, Eastern Ky. Sr. 37

14. John Kelly, St. Francis (PA) Sr. 34

14. Tre Lamb, Tennessee Tech Sr. 34

16. Randy Wright, UC Davis Jr. 33

17. Jonathan Carkhuff, Davidson Jr. 32

17. Taylor Heinicke, Old Dominion So. 32

17. Nick Doscher, Wagner Sr. 32

17 .Jeff Mathews, Cornell Jr. 32

HOME/AWAY:

Old Dominion is currently 17-5 all-time and 1-0 this season on its home turf of Foreman Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium.  The Monarchs have won four straight at home following a 39-35 set back to Towson back on October 15th, 2011.  The loss to the Tigers had snapped a six-game home game win streak for ODU that had dated back to Oct. 9th, 2010 in a 50-37 setback to Cal Poly.  

ODU is 12-3 all-time on the road. Last season , the Monarchs went 4-2 on the road in 2011 with losses at Delaware and Georgia Southern, with both teams being ranked in the nation's top-10 at the time of play.

The Monarchs improved to 2-0 all-time against Hampton at Armstrong Stadium in the week two 45-7 win over the Pirates.  ODU will also be returning to the Georgia Dome where they defeated the Panthers last season, 40-17.

Old Dominion will be making road trips to Richmond, Towson, and James Madison for the first times.

FLASHBACK:

Wide receiver Antonio Vaughan finished his Monarch debut with 191 all-purpose yards (30 rush, 97 rec., 48 kick return), the third highest total in the Monarchs' young history in last season's 41-14 win over Campbell. Only Thomas DeMarco (224 yds. vs. N.C. Central - 2009) and Colby Goodwyn (356 yds. vs. Cal Poly - 2010) have had more. Vaughan gave ODU the 28-7 edge with 4:36 remaining in the second quarter, with his first career touchdown. He had his second touchdown on the play following a fumble forced by Keenan Terry and recovery by John Darr in the third quarter.  For his effort Vaughan became the first CAA weekly award winner picking up Rookie of the Week honors.

ANOTHER IT'S A MOST MOMENT:

In last season's contest with the Pirates, Craig Wilkins led the ODU defense with 17 tackles replacing his previous high of 11 stops in the 2010 game with nationally-ranked Cal Poly. It still stands as a record for stops by a Monarch defender in a game, replacing the previous high of 14 by Ronnie Cameron set in the 2010 eason finale at N.C. Central.

While Wilkins didn't best his mark against Hampton, he did lead the defense with nine tackles, including three for loss, and a seven-yard sack that resulted in a forced fumble.

RAIN, RAIN GO AWAY:

Old Dominion has been very lucky when it comes to weather, having only encountered rain in five of its 37-games to date over the last four season.

In another first for the program, the Monarchs had their first weather delay and shortened contest in week two at Hampton as the game was called with 11:43 remaining in the fourth quarter.  Lightening entered the area forcing the teams into the locker room and both teams agreed to call the game at that point with inclement weather surrounding the area for much of the night.

Last season, the Monarchs played two games in the rain and won both - a 45-42 win over Hampton on Sept. 17th and a 23-20 win over James Madison in the revival of the Oyster Bowl on Oct. 29th.  The win over the Dukes also gave ODU its first ever win over a top-10 program.

In 2009 ODU defeated Campbell, 28-17, on an overcast and drizzling October 17, 2009 afternoon at Foreman Field while a comeback against Fordham fell short, 34-29, at a soggy Jack Coffey Field on Oct 3, 2009 in other inclement weather contests.

BLOCK THAT KICK:

Special teams has 24 blocks to its credit in its four seasons, including their first of the 2012 campaign, a blocked PAT by senior Erik Saylor.  It was Saylor's second blocked PAT of his career.

Last season, the Monarchs made 11 blocked kicks, which according to an unofficial poll of FCS schools led the nation for the most blocks by a school last season.  

RECAPPING BLOCKS:

- Erik Saylor blocked extra points to end of the 2011 season and start off the 2012 campaign.  Saylor blocked Georgia Southern's Adrian Mora's extra point attempt to snap his streak of 151 consecutive made PATs which was an FCS record in the second round of the FCS playoffs last season and halted a Duquesne extra point in the 2012 season opener.

- Chris Burnette blocked his third field goal of the year and fifth of his career on a 37-yard attempt by Norfolk State in the first round of the FCS playofs. In addition to thwarting field goals against William & Mary and Delaware earlier in the year, Burnette stopped a 37-yard field-goal attempt by Virginia Union and a 32-yard attempt by Presbyterian back in 2009.

- Former Monarch Edmon McClam, who holds NCAA Division I record for most blocked PAT's by a single player in a game (FCS or FBS) with three against Chowan in the inaugural game in 2009, was just one blocked PAT shy of tying the FCS record for blocked extra points in a career. He blocked his first field goal attempt on a 50-yard Spartan attempt by Norfolk State in the first round of the FCS playoffs.

- In week 10, Jakwail Bailey blocked his second punt of the 2011 season against Richmond.  In week five, Jakwail Bailey blocked a UMass punt that results in a safety, giving the Monarchs a 26-25 lead they would not relinquish late in the third quarter.  For his efforts, Bailey was named the CAA Special Teams Player of the Week. 

- In week nine, Craig Wilkins blocked a 47-yard James Madison field goal attempt in last moments of ODU's 23-20 win over the Dukes leading the Monarchs to their first Top 10 victory in school history.

-  In week three's game with Hampton true freshman James Faircloth blocked a Pirate punt resulting in Larry Pinkard returning the ball five-yards for a touchdown to open up the fourth quarter in the 45-42 victory.  It was the third time in the two-game series with the Pirates that ODU has blocked a punt attempted by Hampton.

- In week two's 40-17 win at Georgia State, Alex Arain blocked his second career punt that was picked up by Blair Roberts and returned for a touchdown.  Additionally, Paul Morant blocked a punt in the victory.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN:

The captains for the Football Monarchs for the 2012 season are senior linebacker Craig Wilkins, senior defensive lineman Chris Burnette, and sophomore quarterback Taylor Heinicke. A fourth captain will be named each week during the season selected based on his leadership skills displayed leading up to each game.

Game One - Duquesne: Alex Arain
Game Two - at Hampton: Devon Simmons
Game Three - Campbell: TBA

12th MONARCH MOMENTS:

There may be 11 Monarchs on the field, but the 12th Monarch is in the stands. Thanks to all the noise of being "Loud and Proud" from the 12th Monarchs at Foreman Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium, the opposition was charged with six penalties so far this season, 58 in 2011, 51 in 2010, and 41 in 2009 for a total of 156 penalties.

2011 12th Monarch Stats:
Duquesne: Six Penalties

2011 12th Monarch Stats:
Campbell: Six Penalties
Hampton: Ten Penalties
UMass: Eleven Penalties
Towson: Three Penalties
James Madison: Six Penalties
Richmond: Four Penalties
Norfolk State: Eighteen Penalties

2010 12th Monarch Stats:
Jacksonville: Seven Penalties
William & Mary: Eight Penalties 
Gardner-Webb: Five Penalties
Cal Poly: Seven Penalties
Georgia State: Nine Penalties

2009 12th Monarch Stats:
Chowan: Seven Penalties
Virginia Union: Eight Penalties
Monmouth: Three Penalties
Presbyterian: Four Penalties
Campbell: Eight Penalties
Georgetown: Five Penalties
N.C. Central: Six Penalties

KEEP AN EYE ON:

Sophomore Tyree Lee punched in his third touchdown of the season to give ODU a 7-0 lead at Hampton last weekend, an advantage the Monarchs would never lose.  Lee is currently seventh among conference rushers averagng 65.5 yards per game.  Both him and Dae'Quan Scott from James Madison have three touchdowns apiece to lead CAA running backs.

After sitting out last season, redshirt sophomore Rodney Hunter made his first career interception in the 57-23 win over Duquesne and made it two games straight with another INT at Hampton last weekend. Hunter currently leads the CAA in interceptions and is second nationally behind Dontavious Johnson from Coastal Carolina who has three picks on the year.

Sophomore quarterback Taylor Heinicke is among the 20 student-athletes named to the 2012 Walter Payton Award List Watch List for the Football Championship Subdivision's (FCS) top individual honor.  

In week one, Heinicke earned not only CAA Offenive Player of the Week honors, but Sports Network National Player of the Week honors as well.

Od Dominion totaled 723 yards in its 57-23 win over Duquesne, and Heinicke accounted for 530 yards on his own. After trailing 20-10 at halftime, the Monarchs offense exploded for 47 second-half points.

Heinicke broke personal and school game-highs with 492 passing yards and 41 completions, helping the Monarchs tie a program mark for points in a game. Last year's runner-up for the Jerry Rice Award ended the game with four touchdown passes and 38 rushing yards.

It is Heinicke's third national award from The Sports Network having earned National Rookie of the Week accolades twice last season following performances against Richmond and Norfolk State in the first round of the FCS playoffs.

Also last Monday, Heinicke was named the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Offenisve Player of the Week, the fourth time the Monarch signal caller earned a weekly award from the conference office.

Sophomore Blair Roberts ollected his first career touchdown last Saturday against Hampton - a four-yard pass from quarterback Taylor Heinicke with 1:17 left in the first quarter to give the Monarchs a 14-0 edge.  Roberts is currently fifth among CAA receivers at 78.5 yards per game and third in receptions per game at an average of 6.5 catches per contest.

Redshirt junior linebacker John Darr had his first career interception last Saturday at Hampton.  His pick at the Pirate's nine-yard line helped to set up a 35-yard Jarod Brown field goal.  Darr has collected seven tackles through the Monarchs first two games and is among ODU's leaders in tackles for loss with three.