Game 10 Preview: Old Dominion vs. UTSA

NORFOLK, Va. - Old Dominion returns home to host UTSA in the annual Military Appreciation game on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 2 p.m. ODU will recognize the 70th anniversary of NATO during pregame festivities, including an all-veteran parachute jump team, that will jump into the stadium following the national anthem. Supreme Allied Commander Transformation General André Lanata will be recognized on the field during the game.

> Old Dominion dropped its eighth-straight game on Saturday, falling at Florida International 24-17. UTSA lost at SEC foe Texas A&M, 45-14.

> True freshman Hayden Wolff earned his first career start, playing for the first time this season. Wolff completed 19-of-35 passes for 169 yards and an interception.

> Lawrence Garner finished with a game-high 10 tackles and half a tackle for loss. He recorded his sixth double-digit tackle game of the season and leads C-USA with 9.2 tackles per game.

> Keion White notched a career-high nine tackles and tied his career-besst with 3.5 tackles for loss. He also recorded a pass breakup and QB hurry. White is tied for third in C-USA in tackles for loss.

> Kaleb Ford-Dement registered one pass breakup, giving up 11 for the season and tying for the single-season school record. He is tied with T.J. Cowart and Brandon Addison.

First Of Many
True freshman quarterback Hayden Wolff made his first career start at FIU. It was the first playing time of the season for the Florida native. He gave the Monarchs offense a spark, as the offense had 233 yards, their most since 293 against East Carolina. 

Below is how Wolff compares to prominent former ODU quarterbacks in their first career starts.

Forcing Turnovers
The ODU defense has forced 15 turnovers this season, surpassing the 14 takeaways from a season ago. The Monarchs are tied for second in Conference USA and tied for 23rd in FBS with 15 takeaways.

Record Book Watch

Moving Up Career Charts
Linebackers Jordan Young and Lawrence Garner are racking up the tackles and moving up the ODU career tackles charts in the process. Young is in the lead on the career charts, mostly due to his 85 tackles in his redshirt freshman season. Garner registered 13 tackles in his first ODU campaign, as he was slowly rounding into form following an injury his senior year of high school.

ODU Career Tackles 

Military Appreciation and 70th Anniversary of NATO
This year, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is celebrating its 70th Anniversary. It is the strongest Alliance in history – bound by shared history, value and goals. Together, 29 Allied Nations work to prevent conflict and preserve peace for nearly one billion people. The solemn commitment of each Ally is that an attack against one is an attack against all. This bond guarantees prosperity and security, and allows citizens to live their lives in freedom. 

NATO’s Allied Command Transformation is the only NATO strategic headquarters in North America AND is located right here in Hampton Roads! Today, there are many NATO international staff officers and their families joining us to celebrate an football game. As NATO’s Warfare Development Command, Allied Command Transformation adapts military skill-sets, processes and technologies to the changing security environment in order to position NATO as a pillar of stability in an uncertain world.

Stadium Experience Package

As an incentive to encourage fans to enjoy the renovated S. B. Ballard Stadium this season, Old Dominion Athletics has announced a special $25 stadium experience package for the rest of the season, featuring a Monarch football game, a meal from the expanded Aramark concessions menu and a discount at the in-stadium apparel shops. This package must be purchased in advance of gameday.

The Stadium Experience ticket package gives fans a sideline benchback seat, a 10 percent discount at the in-stadium merchandise shops and a meal voucher which include a souvenir ODU football cup for just $25. This package has a total value of more than $57.

The stadium experience ticket is on sale now and will be available for Saturday’s Homecoming game against Florida Atlantic, as well as the November home games against UTSA and Charlotte.

The meal vouchers can be redeemed for a souvenir drink with an entree basket with choice of hamburger, cheeseburger, crab cake, shrimp, hot dog, chicken fingers or BBQ sandwich. Fans can redeem the voucher at appropriate concession stands. The shrimp and crab cakes are available on the East side only. 

To purchase, click here.

Remaining Home Games