NASSAU, BAHAMAS - Old Dominion University Football takes on Eastern Michigan in the Popeyes Bahamas Bowl on Friday, Dec. 23 at 1 p.m. on ESPN.
• ODU is bowl bound in its eighth season of football and just second full season of bowl eligibility. Due to NCAA transition rules, the Monarchs have not been eligible for postseason play in four of the eight seasons since restarting the program after a 69-year hiatus.
• The Monarchs are 66-30 all-time since 2009, and are 20-16 in three years playing a full FBS schedule. Head Coach Bobby Wilder is the only head coach ODU has ever known since restarting the program.
• Senior quarterback David Washington completed 191-of-320
passes for 2,648 yards, 28 touchdowns and four interceptions. He is one of four quarterbacks in the country to have thrown more than 25 TD passes and four or less interceptions.
• Junior running back Ray Lawry leads the offense with 177 carries for 1,122 yards and 11 touchdowns, while sophomore Jeremy Cox has 685 yards and 13 rushing touchdowns.
• Senior linebackers TJ Ricks and Anthony Wilson have combined to make 183 tackles on the year. Ricks leads the squad with 93, while Wilson has 90, five sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss.
• The Monarchs have won five-straight games and eight of their last nine contests.
First Bowl Game
After a 69-year layoff, Old Dominion restarted football in 2009 and in its eighth season is playing in its first bowl game against Eastern Michigan. The bowl game is the first for ODU, but the postseason is not. The Monarchs made the FCS playoffs in 2011 and 2012. In 2014, ODU went 6-6, but was in the second season of transition and not bowl eligible.
| Year | Team | Record | Years of Football |
| 2016 | UTSA | 6-6 | 6 |
| 2016 | Old Dominion | 9-3 | 8 |
| 2015 | Georgia State | 6-7 | 6 |
| 2014 | South Alabama | 6-7 | 6 |
| 2010 | FIU | 7-6 | 9 |
| 2007 | Florida Atlantic | 8-5 | 7 |
Monarchs Making Good
Old Dominion quickly became an FCS power, going 38-10 from 2009-12, twice making the FCS Playoffs and producing a pair of 10 win seasons. The Monarchs have a chance to
become the third program to win 10 games by its second year of bowl eligibilty. Appalachian State won 11 games last season in its first year of eligiblity, while Marshall won 10 games its first year in 1997.
ODU 10 Win Seasons
| Year | Record | Results |
| 2012 | 11-2 | FCS Quarterfinals |
| 2011 | 10-3 | FCS Second Round |
Ray Lawry Single-Season Totals
Ray Lawry owns the three highest single-season rushing totals in ODU history and has back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons. He is 15-yards from breaking his own single-season rushing record he set last season.
Lawry Single-Season Totals
| Year | Att. | Yards | TD's | ||
| 2015 | 194 | 1136 | 11 | ||
| 2016 | 177 | 1122 | 11 | ||
| 2014 | 134 | 947 | 16 | ||
| TOTAL | 505 | 3205 | 38 |
Lawry vs. Eastern Michigan
Ray Lawry has had a pair of solid games in two meetings against Eastern Michigan. In his third career collegiate game, Lawry rushed for a 55-yard touchdown in ODU’s 17-3 win in 2014. Last season in the opener, he rushed for 223 yards, one yard off the school record, and tied his own record with four touchdowns in ODU’s win.
Lawry against EMU
| Year | Att. | Yards | TD |
| 2015 | 28 | 223 | 4 |
| 2014 | 4 | 69 | 1 |
| TOTAL | 32 | 292 | 5 |
Washington Taking Care of the Ball
David Washington is in his first full season as the ODU
starting quarterback and has tossed 28 touchdowns with just four interceptions and a big reason ODU has turned the ball over just nine times.
The Raleigh, North Carolina native registered a career-best 416 yards and five touchdown passes in the win at Florida Atlantic.
QB’s With 25 +TD Passes and 4 INT’s or Less
| Rank | Player | School | TD's | INT's |
| 1. | Zach Terrell | Western Michigan | 27 | 1 |
| 2. | David Washington | Old Dominion | 28 | 4 |
| Mitch Trubisky | North Carolina | 28 | 4 | |
| Mason Rudoplh | Oklahoma State | 25 | 4 |
Take Two
This will be the second time in ODU's eight year history the Monarchs will play on ESPN. The first time was the 2012 quarterfinals against Georgia Southern.