By Harry Minium
It was the first time in 489 days that fans were allowed through the turnstiles at S.B. Ballard Stadium and teams in different colored uniforms met on Kornblau Field. The last game in the 22,000-seat stadium occurred on Nov. 30, 2019, when the Monarchs fell to Charlotte in their regular-season finale.
And although the occasion on Saturday was the final scrimmage of spring practice, and the crowd was limited to 1,000 patrons, it was still reason for players and coaches to have some fun and drink in the ambiance.
"We haven't played in front of fans in a year and a half," redshirt junior defensive end Marcus Haynes said. "Even with just 1,000 people here, we were all pumped up and ready to go."
So was coach Ricky Rahne, who a year ago was in his home in State College, Pennsylvania, supervising the ODU football team from afar. Such was the fallout from the pandemic, which forced ODU to cancel spring practice a year ago and the 2020 season.
The ODU band and cheerleaders were in the north end zone and most of the rest of the crowd was composed of the family and friends of coaches and players. There was music, cheering and some fanfare, which was a huge change for the players and coaches.
Rahne last stepped on a field with players and fans in the stands on Nov. 30, 2019 at Beaver Stadium at Penn State, where he offensive coordinator for the Nittany Lions, who defeated Rutgers in their regular-season finale.
"The players deserved to have their friends and family here," Rahne said. "I wish we could have opened it up to everyone, but that would have been quite a task.
Stone Smartt celebrates a touchdown
"It was nice to have the fans, the bands and the cheerleaders here. It felt like a real football game, like a live game."
The scrimmage itself didn't include a lot of spectacular plays – Reese Poffenbarger's 79-yard TD pass to Rafael McCoy was the highlight of the day, and that came on a 7-on-7 drill.
But from my perspective, this team has made tremendous progress from the squad I saw scrimmage last November at the end of fall practice.
Four months ago, the offense was sporadic and lacked confidence. Not so on Saturday, when the line blocked well, running backs broke some good runs and the quarterbacks ran and threw the ball well. An aside here: ODU will throw a lot to tight ends. The Monarchs did Saturday and have been doing so all spring.
"We've made some major improvements offensively," Rahne said. "Obviously, offense takes timing and that took a while. I think we've looked better offensively the whole spring. We left some plays on the field but in general we played well."
The defense is a 4-3 but so many options were called that often there were five and six guys blitzing. The defense allowed few big plays but tackled crisply and generally defended the pass well.
All in all, it was a good day, but this team remains a work in progress. ODU has one of the nation's youngest teams, perhaps the youngest in the nation, with 43 freshmen and redshirt freshmen and only eight seniors, and the Monarchs just finished their first spring practice with a new coaching staff.
Haynes said the Monarchs feel good about the progress they've made, but realize there's so much more to make before they open at Wake Forest on Friday night, Sept. 3, in a nationally-televised game.
"I feel like we were super young when spring practice began and now we're less young," he said. "We still have a lot of work to do. We're not ready yet to go out there against an ACC team.
"But we're making strides each day."
Rahne told players when they gathered at midfield at the end of scrimmage that there are 127 days left before they again put on helmets and pads for summer practice.
Haynes said that gives the players "127 days to get in the weight room, work out, watch film and get better."
In that regard, the Monarchs are getting a helping hand from some former players. Tim Ward, a defensive end for the Kansas City Chiefs, has been in ODU's weight room recently and has been mentoring Haynes, giving him tips on how to beat offensive linemen and on what NFL players to watch and learn from.
Larry Hawkins III pulls down an interception
Former Monarch Zach Pascal, now a starting wide receiver for the Indianapolis Colts, attended Saturday's scrimmage. It was his first time on campus since Foreman Field underwent a $67.5 million renovation and became S.B. Ballard Stadium.
Pascal spoke to ODU's wide receivers before the scrimmage and mingled with players afterwards. He said he was blown away by the new stadium and the changes he saw on campus.
"I woke up early to come out and see the new stadium," he said. "It looks great. I'm glad to see the hard work that everybody, and not just me, but everybody in this organization played a part in, players, coaches, staff, to get this going has paid off."
He said he told the wide receivers that self-confidence and hard work were the keys to winning, both when he was at ODU and now with the Colts. He said he was impressed with Rahne and the culture he is building at ODU.
"On, man, he's all about effort, effort and energy," Pascal said of Rahne. "I can't wait to see these players make plays later this year."
As for making plays, ODU's three top quarterbacks all looked good, and that might have been the most important news of the day. No stats were kept but D.J. Mack Jr., the transfer from Central Florida and a Norview High School graduate, looked good.
At 6-foot-3, 230 pounds, he can bowl over linebackers. Although he missed a couple of throws to running backs, he ran and passed the ball well.
Colts wide receiver Zach Pascal interviewed by WAVY's Craig Loper
So did Stone Smartt, the senior from Sacramento, California, who at 6-4, 220, is also big and agile. He also threw well and ran the offense confidently.
Hayden Wolff, the redshirt freshman from Venice, Florida, also played well. Wolff appears to have the strongest and most accurate passing arm but doesn't have the mobility of the other quarterbacks.
Regardless of who starts, ODU appears to be good and deep at quarterback, which is the most important position on the field. And that's encouraging.
ODU has some holes to fill on offense and likely will recruit some transfers in the off-season but quarterback is a position where I think the Monarchs are solid.
Rahne said he's far from naming a starter, but said he's liked what he's seen from all three.
He said Smartt plays better when scrimmages are live.
"Part of Stone's thing is when we run the ball," Rahne said. "He's a big strong guy. Having to tackle that dude is hard. There are times when I might have blown the whistle at the two, but today he gets in the end zone.
"I thought he played well and I thought he threw the ball well and made some decisive decisions."
Mack, Rahne said, is not only bigger than a typical Conference USA quarterback, he's also more mobile than most. Mack was the MVP of the 2018 American Athletic Conference game at UCF.
"He's a big strong guy and he's more athletic than people think he is," Rahne said. "He's really embraced our offense.
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It's been a long spring for the Rahne family, who greeted ODU's head coach after the scrimmage.
"I'm happy from what I saw from him this spring. I know this is his first reps with the offense while it's the second go round for everyone else. So, for him to be able to do what he did was impressive."
Wolff, one of the highest-rated players ODU has signed, won the starting position away from Smartt toward the end of the 2019 season, but did not have a particularly good fall. Rahne said he has played better this spring.
"Hayden has played better and quite frankly he's played better in some of these scrimmages," Rahne said. "That was good. He was able to operate the offense."
He tossed an interception in the red zone to junior college transfer Larry Hawkins III, who goes by the nickname Tre.
"It was a big play by Tre," Rahne said. "It was a kind of a 300-level read that he needed to see that is really hard to replicate unless it happens to you."
Learning from mistakes, Rahne said, is what spring practice is in part all about.
"We weren't trying to beat anyone," he said. "We were just out there trying to get better."
Mission accomplished.
Contact Minium: hminium@odu.edu
Minium: ODU Football Team Played Pretty Well, Especially at Quarterback, in final Spring Practice Scrimmage
